Chameleon
by gladrags2012
Summary: A mysterious stranger is never a good thing, especially when you have a secret to keep. Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep.** **Obviously, I don't own MI High or its characters. Only the plot is mine.**

Dan made his way through the park with his hands in his pockets. He had met up with Tom to watch a film in town. Tom had wanted to see the latest Marvel epic. Dan had spent most of the film trying to work out where the actors stopped and the stunt people began. A quick calculation on his fingers left him wondering if the stunt artists had spent more time on screen than the headlining actors.

Now he had the rest of the afternoon and evening to kill. He hated the weekends. School had never been the centre of his universe until he'd joined MI High. Now he kicked his heels through the weekends and waited for the school week to start again. He longed for that familiar twist in the gut which was half anticipation and half fear just before they went on a mission. Maybe he was becoming a mission junkie.

"Oi ! Dan !" called a familiar voice. Sighing, Dan turned slowly to see Keri jogging along behind him. "What are you doing ?" she demanded

"Walking home," said Dan.

"Oh. Alright, I'll walk with you," announced Keri, slowing in step with Dan. Sighing, Dan thought that there was little point in arguing. He noticed how quickly she got her breath back. "What have you been doing ?" she asked, looking at him intently. She was like Zoe in so many ways, but then so totally different.

"I went to see the new Marvel film with Tom," said Dan.

"Ooh ! Such a boy film !" declared Keri, rolling her eyes.

"Yes. Your point being ?" asked Dan.

"Um ? Oh, nothing. You're boys after all," said Keri undaunted by Dan's sarcasm. There was a minute's silence before she spoke again. "Do you like weekends ?" she asked.

"I used to," admitted Dan. "Now I can't wait for Monday."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I used to do stuff. It just doesn't seem so appealing now," agreed Keri. "What sort of things did you do ?" she asked.

"I liked free running and skateboarding," said Dan. "I do most of it in the gym now though," he shrugged.

"Ooh, that sounds fun !" said Keri. "Can you show me ?" she asked.

Dan looked at Keri wondering if she was coming on to him, but she just looked enthusiastic. Although Keri was much more knowing than Zoe ever was, she did seem to share the same enthusiasm for new things. The memory made him smile and then he remembered that Zoe was gone and felt the small ache in his chest. "Yeah, why not," said Dan. A bit of exercise might help him keep the memories at bay. "Come on !" he said, setting off at a steady jogging pace.

Running up to some large concrete kerbs, he rapidly stepped up and down, leading with a different foot every so often. This was his warm up. Keri copied him. Next he set off at a faster run towards some concrete benches. When he was younger they had seemed much larger than they did now. Now he could clear them with a single jump. The familiar elation at being in the air kicked in and his mood started to lift. Keri again copied him. Her first couple looked like an effort, but the third and subsequent hurdles looked almost effortless. She could pick up any physical move with ease. "Ready for a something bigger ?" he asked her.

"Bring it on !" said Keri with a grin. He couldn't help grinning back, before setting off towards the bridge which crossed over the cycle path. Putting one hand on the railing, Dan leapt over it and spread his legs slightly to cushion the impact of landing. Landing carefully on the balls of his feet, Dan rolled to absorb the rest of his momentum. Keri had stopped to watch him, then took a few steps back to get a good run-up to the railing. Kicking her legs to one side she sailed over the railing before swinging her legs back around and touching lightly to the ground before ending up on all fours on the ground. "Hm, not quite as elegant !" she grunted before jumping back up to her feet. "What next ?" she asked eagerly.

Dan grinned and set off along the cycle path. As the path rose slowly up, he jumped for the wall, grabbed a railing and leapt back up to the ground level. Turning round, he was surprised to find Keri right behind him. Without bothering to stop he turned and headed for his favourite spot. The cycle path split into two. Taking the right angled section, Dan jumped to the railing and pushed off, turning in a long, stretched out, somersault before landing again on the balls of his feet. The thrill of flying lifted his spirits like nothing else. Still running he hurtled towards the concrete wall in front of him, took two steps up the wall before throwing himself backwards in a tight somersault, landing back where he had started. Panting happily he looked up to see Keri leaning her chin on her arms on the railing above his head.

"Hm. I might give that one a bit of practice first," she said, creasing her forehead into a frown.

Dan laughed. "Probably a good idea," he agreed, sprinting up the cycle path to its entrance. Keri arrived at the same time. "I wonder if I can do the arm work now," said Dan.

"What arm work ?" asked Keri.

"Oh, I always wanted to do the Flare, but I didn't have the upper body strength," said Dan. "Maybe now," he said, heading for the children's play area. It had soft rubbery stuff on the ground. "Come on !" he said, dashing off. Keri looked bewildered, but followed. It was beginning to get darker now and the play area was deserted.

Keri watched as Dan jumped on to a bench and threw himself off sideways, twisting in the air before landing. He made it look effortless. "Was that it ?" asked Keri.

"What ? Oh, no. That was a butterfly twist," said Dan. "This was what I was trying to do," he said, lifting himself up onto his hands on the soft rubbery surface. He twisted and threw himself from one hand to the other, turning upside down, throwing his legs around above his head. After one full turn he fell over on to his side. "Damn ! Did it again," he complained, before getting back onto his hands. "Nearly got it," he grunted. Keri watched in astonishment as Dan started swinging from side to side, throwing his legs around over his head, while throwing himself from one arm to the other. "Yessss !" hissed Dan.

"Wow !" Keri murmured. "That's cool !"

Dan finally collapsed to the ground on his back with a happy grin on his face. Keri didn't remember ever seeing him smile like that. Dan was a whole lot more attractive when he smiled. Most of the time he just glowered his way through each mission as if he were sitting an exam. She suspected it had something to do with this girl Zoe they kept talking about. She needed to find out more. Her thoughts were interrupted by a whistle blowing at the far end of the park.

"Oh, they're shutting the park up. We'd better get going," said Dan, leaping straight to his feet. Keri wondered if he ever stood up like normal people. Maybe he sprang out of bed in the morning like that. She was now smiling to herself. "What's so funny ?" asked Dan suspiciously.

"I was just imagining you getting out of bed in the morning," said Keri. "Kaboing !" she laughed.

Dan laughed in return. "My Mum probably wishes I did. Come on, or you'll have to jump the fence," he threatened. Laughing together the two teens ran for the last gate to be locked, making it just in time. In the shadows under the trees a figure watched them leave, before turning and melting away in the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep.**

_Laughing together the two teens ran for the last gate to be locked, making it just in time. In the shadows under the trees a figure watched them leave, before turning and melting away in the darkness._

"Right class !" said Mr. Flatley enthusiastically clapping his hands together. "The science fair. We really are lucky to be invited to this special event," he burbled happily. They were all standing outside the Glasgow exhibition centre in a bitterly cold wind. Dozens of busses were parked in lines in the nearby car park and groups of secondary school children were streaming into the building. "Now, this is a very large event, so I want to arrange our rendezvous time and place before you all disappear. He pulled up his jacket sleeve. "We will all meet up at 12:30 pm at the official meeting point. All right everybody ? Have you all got that ?" he asked. There was a general murmur of consent. Everyone was dying to get indoors out of the cold. "Right, this way everybody !" called Mr. Flatley leading the way.

"Oh superb !" exclaimed Tom as soon as they were inside the main hall. He darted off into a throng of teenagers without a glance over his shoulder to see what the others were doing. Dan, Aneisha and Keri looked at one another.

"Tom has died and gone to heaven," said Aneisha.

"I don't think we're going to see him again until 12:30," said Dan. "Shall we browse ?" he asked. There was no answer. He looked around and realised that Keri and Aneisha had also walked off towards a display about the reproductive cycle. Huffing to himself, Dan decided he may as well make the best of it and see if there was anything he was interested in.

Tom was playing on a demonstration for creating holograms. They were quite realistic, but not perfect. Ignoring what everyone else was doing he started to search for the source code on the laptop he was using. Finally he found the code and started running through it to see how the holographic simulations were being generated. Deciding to make it a bit more interesting he pulled out his mobile phone and found a short piece of video of Dan doing backflips in the gym. He loaded the video on to the laptop and started messing with the code so that it would use his video clip. After a couple of errors he managed to get the code working on his video clip and he sat back, arms folded to appreciate the results of his work. A tiny hologram of Dan started doing backflips across the tabletop behind the laptops.

A gasp of admiration behind Tom suddenly brought him to his senses. "Wow ! I didn't know Dan could do that !" exclaimed Roly. "Where did he learn to do that ?" he asked. Roly was quickly joined by a gaggle of their school friends.

"Crazy flips !" said someone admiringly.

Tom was now starting to get a bit annoyed. He had just generated a far superior holographic simulation and all that anyone had to say was about Dan's athletic abilities. Admittedly, they were pretty spectacular, but what about the programming ? This wasn't simple stuff ! Nobody ever seemed to notice what he could do ! Then Tom heard a familiar voice hiss in his ear.

"Tom ! What do you think you're doing ?" hissed Aneisha. "That's Dan doing his MI High training. You've got it on view for everyone to see !" she squeaked, looking around at the large group of people who were now clustered around the stand. Tom saw how worried she looked and it dawned on him finally that this might not have been such a good idea.

"Oh, maybe not so clever," he admitted, before switching off the image and with rapid fire typing, setting the display back to the original settings. Disappointed with the much more dull display, the crowd slowly dissipated.

"Tom, come on. Maybe you'd better stick with us," whispered Aneisha, pulling his arm and dragging Tom along with herself and Keri. Dan strolled towards them with his hands in his pockets.

"Everything all right ?" he asked, looking puzzled by Aneisha's worried expression and Tom's guilty one.

"Yes. It is now," said Aneisha, glowering at Tom. He mouthed 'sorry' to her and was grateful when she didn't tell Dan what he had been doing. The four agents walked off together chatting about the various demonstrations on offer.

As they walked away from the holographic display they didn't notice the inconspicuous, suited young man who sat down at Tom's laptop and replayed the holographic sequence he had left on the machine. "Hm, interesting," muttered the man, before downloading the software and images on to his mobile phone. He glanced at the retreating backs of the four teens, stood up himself and drifted through the crowds behind them, unnoticed.

Aneisha was getting the weirdest feeling that they were being followed. She glanced behind her, but couldn't see anyone she had seen before. She was obviously getting paranoid if she thought anyone was going to bother following them around in this huge hangar filled with the throng of teenagers. In any case, why would anyone bother. Apart from Tom's silly mistake they hadn't done anything odd and only a handful of people would have noticed the hologram. She rubbed her forehead. She was starting to get a headache. The noise in there was deafening.

"Are you all right Aneisha ?" asked Keri, sounding concerned.

"Getting a bit of a headache," said Aneisha. "It's so noisy !" she complained.

"What was that ?" asked Dan, trying to be heard above the noise.

"Aneisha's getting a headache from all this noise !" Keri shouted back to him.

"Oh, right," said Dan, looking around him. He then pointed to a set of doors at the side of the hall, and waved the others towards them. Tom paused and pointed to a display nearby with programmable robots, but Dan grabbed his sleeve and hauled him along after the girls.

"Hey, I was interested in that !" complained Tom as they all exited the hall through the swing doors at the side. The noise level dropped enormously as the doors swung shut behind them, leaving them standing in an empty corridor lined with doors.

"You're interested in everything here," said Dan. "Aneisha's got a headache. Let's have a bit of a break," he said, glancing at his watch. "We have to meet up with Mr. Flatley in twenty minutes anyway."

"Oh, you Okay ?" Tom asked Aneisha.

She rubbed her forehead and nodded tiredly. "Yes. Sorry, I just can't take the noise," she said.

"It's pretty deafening isn't it ?" agreed Keri.

"That's not the only thing," said Aneisha reluctantly. She wasn't sure about telling them about her suspicions, but decided it would be best to share her fears. "I thought for a minute that someone was following us," she explained.

Dan and Keri frowned and looked at one another. "Did you see anyone ?" asked Dan.

"No, there didn't seem to be anybody obvious. It was more of a feeling," said Aneisha apologetically.

"Hm. Your feelings are usually pretty accurate," said Dan thoughtfully.

Keri looked surprised. "But why would anyone bother. I mean, we're just a bunch of teenagers at a science fair full of teenagers," she said.

"True, but Aneisha has the best instincts of any of us," said Dan. "Let's keep our eyes open," he said, glancing at his watch again. "We'd better find Mr. Flatley. Come on."

Pushing the doors open they re-entered the hubbub of the hall and headed for the meeting point. Keri still looked doubtful, wondering why a simple feeling of paranoia by Aneisha would make the other two take notice. Dan had never struck her as someone who was swung by people's 'feelings'. Maybe there was something they knew that she didn't.


	3. Chapter 3

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Who is taking an interest in the team ?**

_Pushing the doors open they re-entered the hubbub of the hall and headed for the meeting point. Keri still looked doubtful, wondering why a simple feeling of paranoia by Aneisha would make the other two take notice. Dan had never struck her as someone who was swung by people's 'feelings'. Maybe there was something they knew that she didn't._

The four teens were the last to arrive at the meeting point. "Ah, excellent. That's everyone. We are all going to get lunch. I hope you all remembered to bring some money to buy your food ? Yes ? Good, follow me," instructed Mr. Flatley. He led them to an area set out with different catering stands. They bought sandwiches, drinks and snacks before taking seats at the tables laid out for them.

The lunch area was not as busy as the main exhibition hall, so the noise level was lower. At last they could hear one another speak. "What do you think of it then ?" asked Tom enthusiastically.

"Oh, it's pretty interesting," said Aneisha. "I liked the stand about global food production. It's kind of scary how the population keeps increasing but the food supply isn't," she added, biting into her sandwich.

Tom was munching happily through a baguette. "Mm hm," he mumbled.

"I think Tom's mainly concerned with local food supplies," said Dan with a grin.

"Hey ! I'll be suitably concerned, once I've had lunch," said Tom.

Mr Flatley came round and gave each table their instructions for the rest of the afternoon. "We will meet up at 2:30 pm sharp at the meeting point again before we return to the bus together. Don't be late please !" he asked them.

Once they'd finished they stood and gathered up their wrappings to put in the waste bins. Keri dropped her handful of packaging into a bin as someone bumped into her, pushing her to one side. "Hey, watch where you're going !" she complained. A retreating back mumbled an apology. "Some people !" hissed Keri under her breath. "Hey, wait up !" she called to the others.

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering the science fair. Everyone ended up holding a handful of leaflets and information packs from different stands. Finally, they met up with their head teacher and returned to the bus. "That wasn't so bad actually," Dan admitted on the way back in the bus. "There was some pretty cool stuff. Maybe not as cool as Frank's, but not bad," he added. The others nodded their agreement.

Back at the school they arrived as the end of day bell rang. Everyone dropped off their leaflets in their lockers and collected their belongings before leaving.

Aneisha walked part of the way home with Keri. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were being followed. She glanced back over her shoulder a couple of times. "What's up ?" asked Keri. She looked back and couldn't see anything unusual.

"I don't know. I must be getting paranoid," said Aneisha.

"Maybe you've just been a spy for too long," suggested Keri. "You're seeing spy type stuff where there isn't any," she said.

"Maybe," said Aneisha. She wasn't so sure though. Something wasn't right.

The next day was another normal school day. After registration, Mr. Flatley introduced the class to their new science supply teacher. They were all going to work in pairs on a science project which resulted from something they had found interesting in the science fair. Mr Gibson was a fairly young man of average height with short, dark hair. Keri found him instantly forgettable. Aneisha teamed up with Keri and Dan teamed up with Tom.

Tom wanted to build a remote-control robot. Dan was happy to go along with him. On one hand, doing a project with Tom was fairly low-effort. On the other hand, Dan would pretty soon be completely lost as Tom rocketed off with new ideas which Dan couldn't understand. After about half an hour Tom was lost in thought, staring at a computer screen of impenetrable computer code. Dan sighed and looked around. Keri and Aneisha were deep in conversation over a screen from the internet. "Everything all right ?" asked a voice beside him. Dan jumped. He hadn't noticed the new supply teacher walking up beside him. What was his name again ?

"Erm yeah, fine," said Dan, pulling his hands out of his pockets.

"There are a few components in the science supply cupboard that your friend might find useful," suggested the teacher. "We brought them especially for the class projects."

"Oh, cool !" said Dan. "Where are they ?"

"They're in the box marked 'science fair projects'," said the teacher. "There are probably a few things that people can use. Would you mind getting them for me ?" he asked.

"Sure, no problem," agreed Dan, heading out of the door. Tom didn't look up from his computer screen.

The science lesson ended and everyone packed up their things. Tom looked around him. "Did you see where Dan went ?" he asked Aneisha. She looked around and shook her head.

"I though he was with you," said Keri, joining them. "Maybe the teacher knows where he is," she suggested. They looked around, but the teacher had already left. "Hm, weird. Maybe he got bored and went to lunch early," she suggested.

They all set off for lunch, but Dan wasn't there either. After choosing their food they sat down together and Tom gave Dan a call on his communicator. "No answer. Weird," said Tom. Having still not seen Dan by the end of their meal they decided to call on Frank. The lift doors opened on to the usual scene in their base. Frank was sitting eating a sandwich in front of a computer screen.

"Hello team. What's wrong ?" he asked when he saw their concerned faces.

"Dan's missing," said Aneisha. "We can't find him anywhere."

"He may have just wandered off to do something else," suggested Frank with a shrug.

"He never does that. We always hang out together," said Tom. "Aneisha's right. Something's wrong."

Frank put down his sandwich with a sigh. "I'll call him," he said. There was no response from Dan's communicator. Frank tried Dan's mobile number. Still there was no reply. Now Frank was frowning. "When did you last see him ?" asked Frank.

"We were in science with that new teacher, what's his name," said Tom, clicking his fingers. "Who did Mr. Flatley say he was again ?" he asked the others. Keri shrugged.

"It was something beginning with G," said Aneisha. "Gibbs ? No, Gibson, that's it. He came especially to do the science projects with us. Never seen him before," she said. Frank looked at her, before turning to the computer.

"The supply teaching staff should be listed on this site," said Frank, pulling up a search screen. "Yep, Mr. Gibson," he said, swivelling round the screen to show a picture of a man in his thirties with dark hair.

"It could be him," said Aneisha. "I thought he was younger."

"I thought he was older," said Keri, screwing up her nose.

"I thought he wore glasses," said Tom. They all looked at one another, completely baffled. How could they all remember him so differently ?

Frank tried again, but the search only produced the one result. "Science teacher, James Gibson, 10 years experience," he read out from the data on the screen. "That should be him. What did your man look like ?" he asked.

The three agents looked at each other. "Well, he was sort of youngish, tallish, darkish hair ..." Keri trailed off. "You guys ?" she asked the other two.

Tom shrugged. Aneisha looked embarrassed. "Sorry Frank. He sort of blended into the background," she admitted.

"Never mind. We'll try the CCTV footage," said Frank. Tom pulled up CCTV from the relevant time. All they could find was a fleeting image of the science teacher walking into their classroom. "Keep it running," said Frank. "Maybe we'll see Dan leaving."

After fast-forwarding through the next 20 minutes of footage, Tom paused the image as Dan walked out of the classroom and headed off down the corridor. He disappeared from view and there was no other footage of Dan anywhere in the school.

"He can't just disappear," said Tom, lifting his hands in the air. "Where is he ?" he asked. Tom now sounded really worried. Everyone shifted anxiously where they were standing or sitting. The three agents turned to Frank. Frank was rubbing his chin with his thumb.

"I'm going to call Stella," said Frank. "You need to return to your lessons," he instructed. "I'll speak to you at the end of the day."


	4. Chapter 4

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. And then there were three.**

"_He can't just disappear," said Tom, lifting his hands in the air. "Where is he ?" he asked. Tom now sounded really worried. Everyone shifted anxiously where they were standing or sitting. The three agents turned to Frank. Frank was rubbing his chin with his thumb._

"_I'm going to call Stella," said Frank. "You need to return to your lessons," he instructed. "I'll speak to you at the end of the day."_

The afternoon seemed to last an eternity for the three agents. They kept looking up each time someone came into or out of the room, expecting to see Dan at any time, but he never appeared. "Where is Daniel Morgan ?" asked Mrs. King. The class all looked at one another and shook their heads. "Well, surely someone must have seen him !" said Mrs. King, sounding exasperated.

"Don't know Miss," said Roly finally. "He sort of disappeared this morning. I think that science teacher sent him to get some stuff out of the science cupboard," he said. Tom, Aneisha and Keri looked at one another in concern. It sounded like someone had noticed Dan's disappearance after all.

"So has nobody been to look for him ?" asked Mrs. King. "He could have been locked in the cupboard all morning for all we know !"

Tom's hand shot up. "Shall I go and check Mrs. King ?" he asked.

"Yes please Tom. Come straight back afterwards," instructed Mrs. King.

Tom shot out of his seat and walked swiftly down the corridors to the science cupboard, hoping all the time that he would find a grumpy, and probably hungry, Dan locked in the cupboard. Tom opened the cupboard door and switched on the light. It was a small room, lined with shelves, which were piled with boxes and crates. Dan was not there. Tom's hope died again. He looked around carefully and found Dan's pencil communicator and his mobile phone perched on top of a box at the back of the room. Something was seriously wrong. Tom hunted round and found a small plastic bag which he used to pick up and bag the phone and pencil, before tucking them into his inside jacket pocket.

"Sorry Mrs. King. He wasn't there," said Tom. There was no disguising the worry in his voice and Mrs. King picked it up instantly.

"I'm sure there will be a simple explanation Tom. Perhaps Daniel left early because he was feeling ill. Return to your seat please," she instructed. Tom did as he was told.

By the end of the day, Tom was chewing on his fingers with worry. Aneisha was also becoming agitated and even Keri was starting to pick up on their obvious concern.

As the school slowly emptied of students the three agents hung back by the lockers, deep in discussion. "I found Dan's mobile phone and communicator in the science cupboard," whispered Tom. "He was there. I think he's been abducted by someone. Why else would his stuff be left there ?" he asked.

"Dan seems pretty good at looking after himself to me," said Keri, trying to inject a positive note.

"Yes, but we don't really hang with the nicest set of people," said Aneisha. "We've no idea where he is or what is happening to him," she added. "Come on. The place is nearly deserted. We can go down to base now."

The three agents burst into their base and were surprised to find several people sitting at stations in the underground room. Frank came out of the shadows with a serious look on his face. "Ah, team. Good. Have you found anything out ?" he asked.

"Roly thinks the science teacher asked Dan to get some stuff from the science cupboard. I checked the cupboard and found these," said Tom, handing over the plastic bag with Dan's phone and communicator.

"Good work Tom," said Frank taking the bag. He handed it over to another man working at the science station. "Fingerprints and DNA please," he asked. The man nodded, took the bag and started work. "Right team," said Frank, returning to the three bewildered looking agents. "Dan has been abducted. I've called in extra help. Our first task is to identify this bogus science teacher. I've contacted Dan's parents to warn them about what has happened. The school will probably be contacting them by now," he said, shifting pieces of paper around on the desk in front of him.

"What can we do ?" asked Tom.

"I need you to think back over the last couple of days. Do you think you've been watched ?" asked Frank.

"I thought we were being followed at the science fair," said Aneisha. "Then, erm," she paused, looking at Tom.

"You'd better tell him," said Tom gloomily. His stomach felt like a huge lead weight was lying in it.

"Tom started reprogramming this hologram setup so that it played a clip of Dan doing back flips in the gym. It was mostly our class who saw it, but I don't know who else might have seen it," explained Aneisha. "He took it off really quickly," she added, when she saw the look on Frank's face.

"Did you remove the video clip ?" Frank asked.

Keri didn't think that Tom could look any more guilty than he already did, but somehow he managed it. "I think I stopped it working as quickly as I could, but I don't think I deleted the video clip," said Tom. "It was Dan, in his MI9 training outfit, in the gym," he said very quietly.

"Alright. Well, we may have a problem," said Frank. "Whoever saw that clip of Dan must also have seen you three with him. You could all be in danger as well," he said. "Just to be sure," he said, picking up a scanning device from his desk. "Stand still for a minute," he instructed, running the scanner over each of them. When he got to Keri, it beeped. Frank scanned her more carefully until he stopped over her school blazer pocket. Keri dipped her hand in her pocket and pulled out a small, flat, circular disk of metal. Frank handed it to one of the MI9 agents. "Check this out and then disable it," he instructed.

"I have no idea how that got there ! Oh, maybe I do," said Keri. It was her turn to look guilty. "Sorry guys. I had no idea. Someone bumped into me. I didn't think anything of it," she added quietly.

"I'm going to arrange escorts to take you all home," said Frank. "Tomorrow is Saturday. I want you to wait for instructions. Do not leave the house. I'll go up and run some tests in the science cupboard to see if I can work out what happened to Dan in there. It might help us to track him down," he added. He didn't sound very hopeful.

After the three agents had left with their escorts, Frank returned to the surface in his caretaker's disguise, equipped with a variety of test equipment, hidden in his cleaning trolley. When he arrived at the science cupboard, he found Mrs. King talking to a policeman. Frank recognised the policeman. He was an MI9 officer, who nodded to Frank. "I've checked the cupboard for evidence Mrs. King. There's nothing belonging to your student in there I'm afraid. We will have to continue our search outside the school. Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find him," the bogus officer reassured the teacher.

"Oh, I do hope so," said Mrs. King. She sounded upset. "I've never lost a student before, and right from under our noses in the school as well !" she said. "I can't believe we had a fake teacher on the premises. These people are all supposed to be vetted and approved !" she said, sounding increasingly distraught.

"Mrs. King, none of this was the school's fault," said the officer soothingly. "Leave it with us now. Let us do our job and you can get on with yours," he said reassuringly. He nodded to Frank before leaving with Mrs. King.

Frank checked he wasn't being watched and then took his equipment into the store cupboard. He took samples from around the room, particularly where Tom had reported finding Dan's communicator and phone. Running the samples through his test kit he started to get readings for some sort of chemical residue. Finding nothing else of use he turned to leave and his eye was caught by something moving in the slight draught from the door. Reaching out he pulled a tiny piece of material from a bit of the metal shelving which stuck out slightly. He tucked it into a small plastic sample bag and put it in his pocket. Looking down his eye was attracted by another tiny movement. Kneeling down on the floor he found the end of a thin fibre blowing about on the floor. He searched the floor and found the other end of the fibre. It had to be some kind of trip wire. There had been a booby trap in the room. With a sigh, Frank left the store room quickly and headed back to his base.

"It's a knockout gas," reported the agent working at the science desk. "It's been used by KORPS before," he added.

"We can't identify the material," reported another agent. "I'd recommend getting it back to HQ and having technical look it over. It's like nothing I've ever seen before. Have a look yourself," she suggested.

Frank did as she said and peered down the microscope at the tiny piece of material. It wasn't made of woven threads. It had a weird reflective quality. "It's not metallic, and it's not organic," reported the agent. "I have no idea what it is," she added apologetically.

Frank thanked her and the others. "I think you might as well go now," he said. "I've asked HQ to go through the local CCTV footage and to look into how the supply teacher organisation was infiltrated. I need to find some footage of this KORPS agent who was here this morning posing as a teacher," he explained. The agents in the room nodded and started clearing up.

"I'll take this to HQ," said the woman with the material sample. "They'll get back to you as soon as they have something," she promised. Frank nodded with a thin-lipped smile. Someone squeezed his shoulder sympathetically as they passed. After a couple of minutes, Frank was on his own.


	5. Chapter 5

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Catch a thief.**

"_I'll take this to HQ," said the woman with the material sample. "They'll get back to you as soon as they have something," she promised. Frank nodded with a thin-lipped smile. Someone squeezed his shoulder sympathetically as they passed. After a couple of minutes, Frank was on his own. _

Frank sat in front of his computer screen staring at the, very short, list of reports which had come back from HQ. Dan's phone only had Dan's fingerprints and DNA, as did his communicator. Frank wasn't surprised. They were clearly dealing with a professional after all. There was a brief report on the knockout gas and its properties. Glancing at his watch, Frank calculated that Dan should have been awake now for the last three hours. Unconsciously Frank raised his hand to his mouth and began biting at his fingernails.

"I thought you'd stopped doing that," said a quiet voice behind him. Frank turned to find Stella, holding a takeaway pizza box.

Frank glanced down and realised what he was doing. "Oh, yes. So did I actually," he admitted with a rueful smile. "Extra jalapeno ?" he asked hopefully.

"What else ?" asked Stella with a smile. She pulled up a chair next to Frank's and opened the box. They munched on a slice of pizza each as she glanced through the reports on Frank's screen. "Not much then," she said finally. Frank shook his head glumly. "Did they notice anything ?" Stella asked.

"Aneisha thought they might have been followed at the science fair," said Frank. "She couldn't be sure."

"Was there any CCTV ?" asked Stella. "At the fair I mean," she added.

"Hm, worth a try," said Frank, putting down the remains of his pizza slice and tapping away on the keyboard. Shortly they were both sitting munching again and fast-forwarding through footage taken at the science fair. "Oh, that's where Tom started playing with the hologram display," muttered Frank.

Stella leaned forward for a better look. "That's not what I think it is, is it ?" she asked with a grimace.

"Yep. Tom played a clip of Dan doing his MI9 training," said Frank with a roll of his eyes. "Tom's smart, but he does get tunnel vision sometimes," he said, with a sigh.

"That's Aneisha telling him off presumably," said Stella.

"Right again," agreed Frank. Then they both sat with their mouths open. "What is that ?" exclaimed Frank. Both he and Stella leaned in for a better look, and Frank played the image more slowly. On the screen behind the gathered teens was a shape. It was the size and shape of a person, but it looked as if the screen was faulty and the image had pixilated. It looked like a shifting, heaving mass of little squares. Staring hard made them feel dizzy.

Stella rubbed her eyes. "I've never seen anything like it, apart from when the telly goes wonky," she said. "Have you got any idea what that could be ?" she asked.

"I'm guessing it's some kind of holographic projection, some kind of disguise," said Frank. "It obviously doesn't look like that to the people in the hall. Nobody is paying any attention to it," he pointed out. They watched as the strange optical illusion followed the group of teen spies through the hall. "Whoever, or whatever, that is has seen all of them together. Then they've bugged Keri and traced them to the school, infiltrated the supply teacher system and kidnapped Dan," said Frank.

Stella had stopped eating. "That's pretty impressive," she said. "Why would they want Dan ?" she asked. "He's a good field agent, but he's not unique. I would have expected Tom to be the more obvious target," she said.

"Me too," said Frank. "What do they want him for ?" he wondered.

The next day the three remaining agents each got a message from Frank. "An MI9 van will collect you and bring you to base early," he instructed them.

Not long after, the three agents stood in HQ in front of Frank. "Are we going after Dan ?" asked Tom.

"No. We haven't yet been able to locate him," said Frank. "I'm sorry. We have to hope we can get some more information," he added. "No, today we have a mission and it's related to Dan. With luck, it will help throw more light on the situation." Frank turned to the large display screen and showed them the recording from the science fair.

"What is that ?" asked Keri. "It's like the TV going crazy !"

"It must be some sort of projection," said Tom. "Wow, that's pretty clever. We didn't see anything like that did we ?" he asked the others.

"No. I'm pretty sure I would have noticed !" said Keri.

"Yes, well HQ have been working all night and found this in the archive," explained Frank. The view changed to footage of a lavish reception with women in gowns and men in smart suits. "This is a party being held at the Opera House a week ago for the new Spanish opera company which is touring the country. Watch closely," he instructed.

They all watched intently and Keri was the first to see it. "There ! Look, on the right," she said, pointing. There again was the pixilated shape, moving across the room. Nobody appeared to notice it. The people in the room started to gather together. It looked as if someone was about to give a speech. As they crowded together the shape moved closer to a woman in the crowd. She jolted to one side and fell. There was a scene and then the woman could be seen clutching at her neck and shouting and screaming. The strange shape dodged around the room before disappearing out of the door.

"What just happened ?" asked Aneisha.

"That was an attempted robbery," said Frank. The thief grabbed the jewels of that woman, who is the wife of one of the richest Russians in the world. They attempted to escape, but in all the confusion, the thief dropped the jewels and left empty handed.

"Do you think it's the same person ?" asked Tom.

"Have you seen that phenomenon anywhere else ?" asked Frank.

"Fair point," agreed Tom. "Whoever it is, they're a rotten thief," he pointed out.

"Maybe that's why they wanted Dan," said Aneisha. "He'd be a brilliant thief." Everyone looked at her.

"But Dan would never agree to it," said Tom. "How would they make him do it ?"

Keri winced. "I really don't want to think about that," she said.

"But we don't know what they're going to do next," said Tom. "Is it anything to do with KORPS ?" he asked.

"We don't know," admitted Frank. "The knockout gas residue is one that has been used by KORPS, but that doesn't mean that nobody else has access to it. KORPS could have been involved, but jewel robberies aren't their usual style," he said. "I think this has at least started outside KORPS. It's possible that KORPS have picked up on it. We are focussing our attention on this event," he said, pulling up an image on the screen.

"This afternoon, there is a grand opening of a new art exhibition. It's called 'The Russians are Coming' and there is an invited audience which includes a lot of wealthy Russians. We are hoping that this is going to be their target," he said.

"We could be staking out a lot of events in the hope that they're going to strike there," said Aneisha with a grimace. "It's a bit of a long shot Frank."

"Yes I know, but we've got to start somewhere," said Frank. "I want you all involved."


	6. Chapter 6

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Now you see him, now you don't.**

"_We could be staking out a lot of events in the hope that they're going to strike there," said Aneisha with a grimace. "It's a bit of a long shot Frank."_

"_Yes I know, but we've got to start somewhere," said Frank. "I want you all involved."_

Frank sat in an anonymous MI9 van with Stella, staring at a bank of CCTV screens. "How many did you install ?" asked Stella.

"There were three there already. I put in another ten," said Frank, absentmindedly.

"You've sent Tom in. How did he take it ?" asked Stella.

"As well as could be expected," said Frank.

Tom was standing next to Aneisha, shifting from one foot to the other. He was holding a tray of food in one hand and fiddling with his earpiece with the other. "Tom, stop fiddling with the equipment," whispered Aneisha. "You're going to draw attention to yourself," she said.

"I can't help it. I get nervous," hissed Tom. "What am I supposed to do with this thing ?" he asked, nodding at the tray.

"Well, duh ! You walk around offering people food," said Aneisha. She surveyed the room which was gradually filling with well-dressed people. There was quite of a lot of jewellery on display already.

"Why can't I be on surveillance as usual," moaned Tom. "I'm no good at this field stuff."

"You're perfectly good at the field stuff," said Aneisha. "Anyway you know why. Dan's not here and we need another body on the floor," she reminded him. "Come on Tom ! We're trying to get Dan back. You know that," she cajoled.

"Yeah, I know," said Tom. With a sigh he looked around. "I wish I knew what I was looking for," he said.

"Frank should warn us if he sees anything unusual," said Aneisha. "Come on, we need to spread out. They should be starting soon. We need to be ready."

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be ready for," moaned Tom, but he took a deep breath and started moving out across the room. He saw Keri across the room and nodded to her. She smiled back. He glanced back at Aneisha, wishing he could stick close to her. She made it look so easy. She was moving around the room slowly, smiling at people and offering them food, all the while surveying the room for any unusual activity. Tom wondered again what he was supposed to be looking for.

Finally a man climbed onto a small platform at the end of the room and called out for everyone's attention. People slowly gathered in front of the man and he started giving a speech, which someone else translated into Russian. Tom looked to Aneisha to see what she was doing. She had moved to the outer edge of the room. Keri had taken up a position on the other side of the room. After a moment's thought, Tom walked to stand beside the door. Aneisha gave him a small smile, so he guessed he must have done the right thing.

"Team, we've spotted some activity outside near the men's toilets," said Frank's quiet voice in their ears. Tom jumped at the unexpected sound, making his tray rattle slightly. He hadn't realised how weird it was having someone talking in your ear while you were trying to concentrate on what was going on. He stiffened, hoping that nobody had noticed. Risking a quick glance at Aneisha he saw the grin on her face and realised he had failed to disguise his startled reaction. Aneisha noticed everything, but admittedly, that was her job.

"Approaching the room," came Frank's voice again. This time Tom managed not to jump. The entrance door opened and a man walked in. He looked quite tall and slim with neat black hair and was wearing an expensive suit. The man quickly walked across the room to join the back of the crowd gathered around the speaker.

Aneisha looked over to the door as it opened. A woman in a long blue dress came into the room, glanced around and then walked across the floor to join the back of the crowd.

Keri checked who was coming into the room. An older man with greying hair came in, wearing a worn grey suit. After glancing around he walked across the room to join the back of the crowd.

"Team, what can you see ?" asked Frank's voice.

"Young guy in a dark suit," said Tom.

"Woman in a blue dress," said Aneisha.

"Old guy in a grey suit," said Keri.

"What ?" said Tom and Aneisha together.

"That's not possible," said Tom. "I only saw one person coming in. How come there's three of them ?" he asked in confusion.

"It's definitely a woman," said Aneisha. "Oh, wait a minute. Her dress is green, not blue. That's weird, I could have sworn it was blue," she added, sounding puzzled.

"Oh, he's got glasses on," said Keri, sounding confused. "I didn't notice that. Maybe he put them on," she added.

"All we're seeing is a big pixilated blob," said Frank. "You all seem to be seeing something different. I've never heard of anything like it," he added, sounding astonished. "Tom, can you get closer with the spy pod. See if you can get a reading on this, thing," he said.

Tom's curiosity was now overcoming his nerves. Hiding the spy pod under his tray, he walked across the room towards the mystery guest. The man in the blue suit, no make that a black suit, had started to mingle amongst the other guests. Tom speeded up his pace to catch up with him, fiddling with the setting of his spy pod under the tray. "You getting this Frank ?" Tom muttered.

"Yes. I don't know what I'm getting, but I'm getting it," said Frank. He sounded completely mystified. Tom risked a glance at the screen on his spy pod. It was showing some kind of weird electromagnetic field. He had never seen anything like it. Since he wasn't watching where he was going, he bumped into the back of somebody.

"Oops, sorry," said Tom, looking up into the annoyed face of one of the guests. He stepped to one side and watched the target closely. He saw the man's right hand move, but didn't really see what he was doing. The woman in front of the man waved her hand as if swatting away a fly. The man moved on and Tom carefully followed him, stepping between the people in the room. All eyes were fixed on the speaker and translator. They stopped speaking and the target stopped and also started clapping, before reaching forward to a woman near the front. Tom blinked. What just happened ? He was sure that woman had been wearing a necklace of some sort. Now she wasn't. Suddenly he realised that the man was moving away through the crowd.

"Stop him !" ordered Frank.

Tom started weaving his way through the crowd towards the back of the hall. He saw Aneisha and Keri moving to intercept the man as he walked through the crowd. Was he imagining things, or was the suit blue again ? Tom rubbed his eyes which felt tired. It was as if he was struggling to focus on the man in front of him. He saw Keri and Aneisha close in on either side of the man. "Excuse me, could we have a word ?" asked Aneisha quietly. The man glanced from one agent to the other and without warning, flicked his arms up, throwing their trays into the air and the contents into the girls' faces. Momentarily stunned the two girls froze in place and the man used that split second to dash through the doors and out of the room. People in the room looked round to see what was the cause of the commotion.

"My necklace ! It's gone !" shouted a woman. There were more shouts, some of them in Russian.

Tom started running, tossing his tray to one side. Aneisha and Keri had also recovered themselves and were running after the thief. "This is MI9. You're under arrest !" shouted Aneisha. "Frank, seal the exits," shouted Aneisha.

"They're sealed. The SWAT team are waiting," said Frank.

The thief sprinted down the corridor outside. He came up to a set of security doors which had closed. He stuck a piece of paste on the door and stopped to face the three agents, raising his arms in a defensive posture. Keri and Aneisha lunged, but he fought them both off, throwing the two girls back. Tom lunged to grab the man and caught hold of his clothes. The paste on the door exploded, throwing the door open and the man pulled himself out of Tom's grip, running through the door. The man's clothes ripped and Tom found himself holding a piece or weird shimmery material. "Stop !" he shouted. "You're surrounded !"

The man didn't glance back, but continued sprinting down the corridor ahead. He was fast. Coming to the top of a flight of stairs he saw a group of MI9 agents coming towards him and turned down the stairs. It was a large sweep of stone stairs with a wide stone parapet. One of the agents lifted his gun and pointed it at the thief. The thief jumped on to the stone railing and leapt across the wide gap to the lower railing on the other side of the stair well. A shot rang out, missing the man by inches. He jumped again to another lower railing.

Tom threw himself down the stairs after the man. He was followed closely by the SWAT team and then Keri and Aneisha. The thief reached another door which was also locked. He rattled it before sticking some more paste to it. The man glanced back up the stairs and Tom looked into his eyes. They seemed vaguely familiar. Then the whole image of the man seemed to buzz and swirl in front of Tom's eyes. He felt a wave of dizziness come over him, as he struggled to focus on the man in front of him. The paste exploded and the man turned to grab the door handle. Tom hurled himself forward and grabbed the man's clothes again. This time there was a loud tearing sound and Tom found himself holding the end of a long strip of the shimmering material. The image he was seeing suddenly broke down and he found himself staring, shocked into the face of Dan.

"Dan ! What are you doing ?" said Tom, his eyes wide with shock. Dan looked confused, but lifted a fist to hit Tom in the face.

"Stop or we shoot !" shouted an agent on the stairs, raising his gun to fire.

"No !" yelled Tom, throwing himself in front of Dan. "Don't shoot !" he yelled. He looked round and saw the puzzlement in Dan's face, but Dan didn't hit him. He swiftly turned and ran through the doors, held back for a split second by Tom's handful of his clothing.


	7. Chapter 7

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Unexpected jewel thief.**

"_Stop or we shoot !" shouted an agent on the stairs, raising his gun to fire._

"_No !" yelled Tom, throwing himself in front of Dan. "Don't shoot !" he yelled. He looked round and saw the puzzlement in Dan's face, but Dan didn't hit him. He swiftly turned and ran through the doors, held back for a split second by Tom's handful of his clothing. _

Tom turned to face the crowd of agents thundering down the stairs. "It's Dan ! How could it be Dan ?" he asked, puffing for breath and looking shocked. The SWAT team paused, pressing their hands to their ears and looking at one another in confusion.

"SWAT team stand down ! Repeat, SWAT team stand down," called out Frank's voice. "That's one of our agents."

"Come on. Let's follow him," said Tom, coming to his senses. Keri pushed through the doors after Dan, followed closely by Tom and Aneisha.

They ran out of a door at the back of the building which had again been blown open. They were just in time to see a white van driving off at speed down the road. "Frank ! Did you catch a look at that white van ?" asked Aneisha.

"We're tracing it now," said Frank. "Stand down agents."

The three frustrated agents looked at one another. "Well, we know just how good a jewel thief Dan would be," said Keri, standing with her hands on her hips.

Tom was looking at the strip of material in his hand. "What is this stuff ?" he wondered. "It's putting up some sort of holographic field, but I've never seen anything like it," he added.

"Dan could get into some serious trouble," said Aneisha. "We've got to get him back before it's too late."

In the back of a white van, Dan was sitting with a group of men. There was a set of electronic equipment and monitors at one end of the van. A short man wearing glasses was sitting in front of the screens. "You've broken it !" the man complained, leaning forward to wave the flapping, torn material before slapping Dan across the face. Dan reacted in self defence, but the other men grabbed his wrists and pushed him back into his seat.

Dan was looking increasingly confused. "Who was that boy ? He knew my name !" he complained. "Where is this ?" he asked suddenly, looking around him blankly and shaking his head.

"It's wearing off. Secure him !" instructed the man in charge of the equipment.

"You do not tell us what to do !" shouted one of the other men, but they still grabbed Dan and tied his arms behind his back. His struggles came too late to make any difference. Unable to stop him, he sat while the other man reached into his pockets and removed a necklace, bracelet and other jewellery and grinned with delight. Dan looked shocked at the sight.

"Where did those come from ?" he demanded. "What's going on ?" One of the men pulled out a strip of material and used it to gag Dan, before grabbing Dan's face with his hand.

"You boy ! Keep still !" he hissed, before turning to the other man. "Those belong to KORPS," he snapped.

"What ? They're mine ! This is my invention," the man with the spectacles protested. "You said you'd help," he complained.

"Yeah, well now we own you and everything that is yours," snarled the KORPS agent. "If you want to keep that clever head on your shoulders, you'll do what you're told," he said forcefully, gesturing for the other man to hand over the jewels. Shaking with fear, the man did as he was told.

Eventually the van came to a halt, the doors opened and Dan was pushed out. They entered an anonymous building. Dan was taken one way and the technical man another. Dan was eventually untied, the shimmering overalls he was wearing taken from him and he was shoved into a bare cell. He collapsed onto a narrow bed, with his head in his hands, desperately trying to remember what had happened.

In another room across the building the quaking technical man was pushed into a chair in front of the Crime Minister. She smiled nastily. "Well, your invention does seem to work rather well, even if it has only been used for such a trivial purpose," she said, smirking. "Now, it is time for you to make history Mr. Strang. Your device is going to be used to achieve the destiny of KORPS !" she shouted exultantly. The man shrank into his chair in terror. "I want more !" she shouted at him.

"But, but there is only one, and it has been broken !" protested the man weakly, holding up the torn material. "I need some time to repair the device," he pleaded.

The Crime Minister leaned over him. "You have two days," she snarled into his terrified face. "Otherwise we will use the brainwash on you so that you're mind is wiped ! Permanently !" she shouted, laughing maniacally.

"I could do with some help," suggested the man timidly.

"What help ?" demanded the Crime Minister.

"That boy," said Mr. Strang quickly. "The one who worked on the holograms in the science fair. With his help, I could make more," he suggested hopefully. "He's a friend of the boy we took. Maybe he could help us capture the boy I need," he added.

The Crime Minister looked at him coldly. "Very well," she said finally. "Get your device working again and we will prepare the boy for the next assignment. We will capture this boy genius for you and then," she said, leaning in threateningly, "You will do exactly as you are asked. Do you understand me ?" she asked. The man nodded furiously.

"Yes. Yes, absolutely Crime Minister. Whatever you want Crime Minister," he promised.

Dan lay dizzily on his bed feeling confused and frightened. This was KORPS. He knew about KORPS. They were criminals. He was supposed to fight KORPS but he couldn't remember why. Who was that boy who helped him ? He thought back to the stairs in the building with the boy in front of him and the two worried looking girls behind him. Tom ! It was Tom ! And the girls were Aneisha and Keri. He worked for MI9 ! That was it. He was a spy ! So what was he doing here, and why was he stealing jewellery ? He didn't want to steal jewellery.

Dan's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of two guards, one of whom was carrying a tray full of food. "Food. Eat it," instructed the guard, opening the door and putting the tray on the floor. Dan looked up, wondering if he could rush the two guards, but noticed the other guard holding what looked like some kind of cattle prod threateningly in his hand. He shrank back and waited until they relocked the door and left before taking the tray. He was starving and the food wasn't too bad.

Dan wasn't sure what time it was when he was shaken roughly awake and hauled from his bed. He was pushed into a chair like the type dentists use and strapped down. Fearfully he looked to one side and saw his school uniform laid out on a chair. "You have work to do boy," said a woman in a white coat. The chair tilted back until he was looking straight up. A screen was pulled over in front of his face and headphones put on his head. Strange patterns started to play on the screen and a pulsating noise began playing on the headphones. Dan lost track of time, where he was, who he was ….


	8. Chapter 8

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Set a spy to catch a spy.**

"_You have work to do boy," said a woman in a white coat. The chair tilted back until he was looking straight up. A screen was pulled over in front of his face and headphones put on his head. Strange patterns started to play on the screen and a pulsating noise began playing on the headphones. Dan lost track of time, where he was, who he was …._

Tom wasn't allowed to leave the house on Sunday. Normally, his parents would have had to bribe him with biscuits and chocolate to tempt him out of the house on Sunday and leave his precious bedroom full of gadgets and games. Today he would have given anything for a walk in the park or a stroll into town. It reminded him of one of the songs his Mum played on her old record player. 'You never want a drink of water 'til the well runs dry.' Yeah that was it. He'd always thought it was a really stupid song, but he was starting to see the point now.

Sighing with boredom, Tom looked mournfully out of his bedroom window. What he saw shocked him. Standing across the road was a familiar figure in school uniform. It was Dan. Dan was standing on the opposite side of the road, looking blankly around him. What on earth was he doing in his school uniform, and how had he escaped from the jewel thieves ? Tom pulled out his phone. "Frank, I've seen Dan. He's standing across the road from my house," Tom reported.

"What ? Tom, it's got to be a trap. Do not leave the house !" ordered Frank. He sounded worried. "I'm coming round. Wait there," he said again.

Tom closed the call and stared out of the window. Dan seemed to be looking all around him as if lost. Then he looked to one side and started walking away down the street, looking over his shoulder. Then he started running. Tom watched as two men in KORPS uniforms ran down the street after Dan. He had to do something. Frank said it was a trap, but what if it wasn't and Dan was in trouble ? What should he do ?

Tom looked around for something he could use as a weapon, but amongst all the gadgets and equipment in his room, he couldn't see anything that might be useful in a fight. He'd 'borrowed' all kinds of things from MI9 during his time on the team, for study purposes obviously, but never anything that could be useful in a fight. Tom had never been interested in hurting people. He was wasting time ! Dan could be in serious trouble by now. Frantically Tom looked around and grabbed a small handheld scanner and stuck it in his jacket pocket, before running downstairs and out of the front door. He ran off down the street in the direction he had seen the others running.

There was no sign of Dan or the two KORPS agents. Tom cursed himself for wasting so much time before setting off. He arrived at the entrance to the local park and saw a blue figure in the distance being held by two darkly dressed figures. Bingo ! Tom pulled out his phone. "Frank, I've found Dan !" he gasped out.

"Tom ! What are you doing ? I told you to stay indoors !" said Frank frantically. "Where are you ?" he asked.

"I'm at the entrance to the local park," said Tom. "I can see Dan. He's been captured by two KORPS agents." he said. "We've got to help him."

"All right Tom, but we've got to help him, not you," said Frank. "Go back to your house, now !" he ordered.

Tom watched as Dan was dragged along a path to another exit from the park. There was a black van waiting at the gate. "Frank, you're going to be too late," said Tom anxiously. "They're taking him away again,"

"Tom, please ! Stay there !" said Frank, but Tom closed the call. He wasn't going to risk losing his friend again.

Tom set off at a run after the retreating figures. Dan must have been putting up quite a struggle, because they were taking ages to reach the park gate. Finally, sweaty and puffing with the effort, Tom reached the three agents as they reached the entrance. "Stop ! Let him go !" shouted Tom, running at one of the agents. If he distracted one, maybe Dan could fight off the other one he thought. He started hitting at his target who had to let go of Dan to defend himself against Tom. It took Tom a second or two to notice that Dan wasn't fighting. "Dan ! Fight !" shouted Tom with what breath he could muster. "Come on !"

Dan stood motionless, staring at Tom in wonder. The other KORPS agents stood beside him and laughed nastily. The KORPS agent pointed at Tom and said, "Grab him boy !" to Dan. Dan darted over and grabbed Tom's wrists, pulling them behind his back.

"Dan ! What are you doing ? We need to escape ! Dan !" Tom protested. He looked round into Dan's face. His eyes were blank. Once Tom held his focus, Dan started to look slightly confused.

"I saw you before," said Dan, uncertainly.

"Yes, I'm Tom, remember ?" asked Tom pleadingly. "Your friend ?"

Dan looked puzzled. "Get him in the van !" shouted the KORPS agent. "Do it !" he yelled.

Tom started to struggle and the first KORPS agent pulled back his hand to punch Tom in the face. Dan twisted him round so the the blow missed Tom and hit his own shoulder instead. "No !" shouted Dan. "No," he said, more uncertainly.

"Dan, mate !" pleaded Tom. "We have to get out of here. Escape !"

The second KORPS agent saw Dan's hesitation and pulled a long stick from the side of his waist. He jabbed Dan with it, who jolted stiffly and fell to the ground. The first agent then grabbed Tom and propelled him towards the waiting van. "Bring the other kid," he ordered the man with the stun stick. The other man dragged Dan to the van and threw him in behind Tom who was now tied up and sitting on the floor of the van. The doors were closed and the van drove off with them both held prisoner.

Frank arrived with a small MI9 team to see a van roaring off in the distance. Tom was nowhere to be seen. Frank slammed his hand down on the steering wheel of the van and ran his hand through his hair. He'd lost two of his agents. Frank returned to HQ.

Tom sat in the back of the speeding van and realised what a mistake he had made. Frank had been right. This was just a trap. They had wanted to capture him and had used Dan as bait. Dan was now starting to come round on the floor of the van. One of the KORPS agents reached down and tied Dan's hands behind his back. "I'm not letting him land another of those punches on me," complained the man. "He got me right in the eye that first day !" he added, tugging at the rope to make sure it was secure.

"Serves you right for not keeping your wits about you," snarled the other man. "He's trained. He's not just some kid off the street."

"Yeah, well the brainwashing doesn't seem to be lasting as long now," said the first man. "What are they going to do when it doesn't work any more ?"

"I expect they'll get rid of him," said the first man. "It was this kid they wanted anyway," he said, pointing to Tom. The man stared at Tom's frightened face and sneered. "You're supposed to be the brainy one aren't you kid ?" he asked. "Your mate's just the hired muscle isn't he ?"

"No he isn't," said Tom. "He's smart, just in a different way," he added, before leaning back against the side of the van. He meant what he'd said. Although he'd often ridiculed Dan's 'boy scouting' attitude to spying he had always respected his friend's resourcefulness and discipline. He always missed him when he wasn't around.

Back at HQ Frank was speaking to Stella. "I told him not to go out !" he said, banging the table in frustration.

"Would he have had anything on him ?" asked Stella calmly.

"What do you mean ?" asked Frank.

"His phone ? Any MI9 equipment ?" she asked. "They all have tracers in them," she reminded him.

Frank grinned at her. "You are beautiful !" he said, kissing her on the mouth. Stella looked surprised, but slightly pleased.

After a few minutes of manic typing, Frank first found Tom's mobile phone. It was lying in the gutter near the park entrance. He'd send someone round to pick it up, but that wasn't going to be any help. He did a general search for MI9 equipment and found a trace on a device, some kind of scanner, travelling quite quickly across town. "Got him !" said Frank.


	9. Chapter 9

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. The master of disguise. (I think I may have used one of these ideas before, but recycling is good for the planet isn't it :) Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review. It always keeps me going.**

_After a few minutes of manic typing, Frank first found Tom's mobile phone. It was lying in the gutter near the park entrance. He'd send someone round to pick it up, but that wasn't going to be any help. He did a general search for MI9 equipment and found a trace on a device, some kind of scanner, travelling quite quickly across town. "Got him !" said Frank._

Tom sat in the speeding van cursing his own stupidity and looked at Dan. Dan was still lying on the floor of the van, staring up at him, frowning. "You're that same boy," said Dan uncertainly. "The one on the stairs. I knew your name," he said, frowning in frustration. Tom quietly waited. The guards had said something about brainwashing. That would explain why Dan was stealing jewellery and kidnapping his friends. "Tom ! You're Tom," said Dan sounding relieved.

"Yes. That's right," said Tom softly.

Dan levered himself stiffly off the floor and leaned against the seat running down the side of the van. There was dirt on his face and he looked tired. "I work with you," said Dan. "MI9," he added.

"Yes. I think they brainwashed you somehow," said Tom. "It's OK."

Dan looked up at Tom and then across the van to the smirking KORPS agents and shook his head. "No it's not," he said.

Shortly the van arrived at a large building and the two agents were pushed out and propelled through corridors. At last they were taken into a large laboratory style room and shoved into chairs. A short non-descript man wearing a white lab coat and glasses came into the room. He looked closely at Tom and nodded. "Yes, that's him. Good," he said.

The Crime Minister entered the room. The man in the lab coat shrank away from her. "Is this the boy ?" she asked, looking at Tom. "He's the boy from the heavy extranium reactor," she snarled. "Well, aren't you multi-talented !" she said sarcastically. "You are going to help Mr. Strang repair and replicate his Chameleon device," she said.

"And what if I don't ?" demanded Tom angrily.

The Crime Minister sighed and rolled her eyes. "Do I really have to explain ?" she asked. She clicked her fingers and one of the guards came forward with his stun stick. "We haven't tested how many times it can be used," she said. The guard held the stick to Dan's neck. "Would you like us to ?" she asked with insincere sweetness.

"Don't do it Tom !" said Dan urgently. The guard pressed the trigger and Dan jolted before falling to the floor.

Tom heard the whistle of the stun device recharging and the guard walked towards Dan's prone figure, holding out the stick. "Alright. I'll do what you want. Stop hurting him, or I won't help you !" shouted Tom.

The Crime Minister held up her hand to the guard who stepped back. "Very well, but understand this. If at any point you fail to cooperate, your friend here will be punished. Severely," snarled the Crime Minister. "Get to work !" she ordered, before stalking out of the room.

Tom was untied and waved towards Mr. Strang. He watched over his shoulder as Dan was picked up and dragged out of the room, still unconscious.

"We'd better get busy," said Strang. "She gets pretty angry when you don't make any progress," he warned. Tom looked at the man in disbelief. He had to be kidding !

"What were you thinking ?" asked Tom.

"What do you mean ?" asked Strang, looking puzzled.

"You built a camouflage system, a really good one, decided to use it for thieving and then got yourself tied up with KORPS. How can you be so clever and so dumb at the same time ?" asked Tom.

"Okay clever clogs !" said Strang, looking annoyed. "How did you manage to get yourself captured ?"

Tom thought about this. It was a fair point, although he wasn't ready to admit it to Strang. He had also been pretty dumb on the face of it. "I guess we need to keep an eye on the bigger picture," he said.

"Yes I agree, but right now, I'm concentrating on staying alive !" said Strang, looking helplessly at the pile of stuff lying around the laboratory.

Tom decided that he was going to concentrate on keeping himself and Dan alive for now and then work out how to get them both out of here. "Come on then. We'd better get busy. Show me how this stuff works," he said glumly.

Back at HQ Frank and Stella were organising surveillance on the location where Tom's tracer stopped moving. "We could launch an attack," suggested Frank.

"We would risk getting them both killed without more information," warned Stella. "It would be helpful to know what KORPS are planning as well," she added. "This could be an opportunity to close down one of their operations.

"This could be an opportunity for Dan and Tom to get killed !" complained Frank.

Stella looked at him seriously. "Frank, we're going to get them back, but we're not going to rush it. That's what got Tom into trouble wasn't it ?" she asked him.

Reluctantly Frank nodded. "Yes, you're right," he said finally. "We can't let KORPS know that we're on to the location. They'll move them both and then we'll have to start again," he said. Stella nodded and they both got to work.

In the KORPS laboratory Tom couldn't help marvelling at the device Strang had produced. "So you are projecting a half complete image on to the suit material and the viewer's brain finishes the job for you ?" he said in wonder. "But all three of us looked at Dan when he was wearing the Chameleon suit and we all saw something different," he said to Strang.

"Yes, that's right," agreed Strang. "Each of your brains put together the information that you were picking up with your eyes and tried to assemble it into the closest approximation that it could come up with, based on your own individual experiences," he explained. "I got the idea from those people who think they've seen aliens."

"What do you mean ?" asked Tom.

"Well, there is a theory that temporal lobe seizures cause the brain to see a shape on it's imaging cortex. This confuses the brain and it attempts to create an image which would explain the shape. Each culture transforms this shape into something different depending on what they are expecting to see within their own culture. Americans see a large headed alien creature, British people tend to see a ghost and Canadians tend to see the Old Grey Hag who is supposed to be a portent of death," explained the man. "This seizure is accompanied by a feeling of dread," he added. "I thought that rather than trying to create the complete image of a real person, I would create a half complete image of something resembling a person and let the brain complete the image for itself," he finished. "Without the feeling of dread though," he added.

Tom looked at the man. "That's brilliant !" he said. "I mean, you could do so much with that."

"Yes exactly," said Strang excitedly. "You could steal the crown jewels !"

Tom looked at him dubiously. "And then what ?" he asked.

"Hm ?" said Strang.

"What would you do, once you've stolen the crown jewels ?" asked Tom. "Wear them ? Who are you going to sell them to ? They're the crown jewels," he pointed out.

"Mm," muttered Strang. "Admittedly, I hadn't thought any further than that," he said, stroking his chin. "I thought it would be fun. However, it turned out to be a bit more difficult than I had thought. That's when I came up with the idea of finding someone with the relevant physical skills."

"Dan," said Tom.

"Yes," said Strang. "KORPS contacted me and asked if I needed anything. They were very helpful," he said. "I think that was my first major mistake," he admitted.

"You could say that," agreed Tom.


	10. Chapter 10

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Making and mending.**

"_Yes," said Strang. "KORPS contacted me and asked if I needed anything. They were very helpful," he said. "I think that was my first major mistake," he admitted._

"_You could say that," agreed Tom._

"So what do we need to do with your device ?" asked Tom.

"The material needs to be a continuous surface for the image projection to work," explained Strang. "We need to create the surface again. It was torn. We need to spray another suit with the graphene pixels," he said.

Tom looked at him in surprise. "I thought graphene was still experimental," he said.

"I suppose so," said Strang. "I use a digital printer," he said, pointing to the device at the side of the room. "It's programmed to spray the individual pixels. I'm running out of the graphene though. I need you to make some," he explained.

"How do you do that ?" asked Tom.

"Use that," said Strang pointing to a large hooded machine at the end of the room. It's an old semi-conductor production machine. I adapted it for what I want," he explained, waving his hands vaguely. He showed Tom how to use the machine and Tom set to work, while Strang began setting up the printer. "I have enough to get started, but you need to keep replenishing the toner cartridge. It takes quite a lot," he explained.

For the next couple of hours the two got to work. Four hours later they had completed another suit. Tom put it on and Strang tested it. "Yes, that's working," said Strang. "Hopefully that should keep the Crime Minister happy for a while," he said.

"What's going to keep me happy ?" asked a snarling voice behind them. They both spun round and stood to attention as the Crime Minister stalked past Strang and looked at Tom in the suit. He had taken down the hood which covered his head so he appeared as a different body with his own head on top. He could see himself in a large mirror at the side of the room and the sight made him feel really weird. "I didn't ask for one chameleon suit Mr. Strang," she said, leaning threateningly over the cowering man.

"I know Crime Minister, but I need some more pure carbon," he stammered. "I've used all that I had and without it, I can't create another suit," he explained. "Also, I only have one control device. Creating another one will take more time and the full set of components," he added. By now he was shaking with fear.

The Crime Minister walked around the shivering man as if assessing whether or not he was telling the truth. "Very well, you will create a list of all the equipment, components and materials. We will obtain them and you will create further devices," ordered the Crime Minister. She walked up to Tom. "Have you learned how to make one yet ?" she demanded.

"No. All I've done so far is make graphene," said Tom.

"Very well. Put him with the other boy," ordered the Crime Minister. Then she turned to Strang. "You, get busy with the list. I want it before the end of the day !" she ordered before striding out of the room, followed by her KORPS retinue. Tom was led through the corridors and pushed into a cell with Dan.

"Dan, are you all right ?" asked Tom.

Dan sat up on his bed and stared at Tom in confusion. "How did you get here ?" he asked.

"You helped to capture me," explained Tom.

"Oh. I thought that was a bad dream," said Dan, rubbing the back of his neck.

"They brainwashed you," explained Tom. He sighed, sat on the bed beside Dan and told him everything that had happened since he had been taken.

"Now they're getting Strang to make more chameleon suits and they obviously want me to learn how to do it as well," said Tom.

"As soon as you've learned how to do it, they won't need Strang any more," pointed out Dan. "They'll probably get rid of him."

"I hadn't thought of that," said Tom thoughtfully. "I'd better make sure I don't learn everything then," he said.

"Why ? Do you like Strang ?" asked Dan.

"Not exactly. It's just that he's a bit like me really," admitted Tom.

"You'd never do anything like that !" said Dan.

"Not now," agreed Tom. "But if I hadn't joined MI9, I'm not so sure what I would be doing now," he admitted sheepishly.

"Well, I still don't think you would be stealing jewellery and working with KORPS," said Dan. "You've got more sense." Tom stayed silent. He wasn't feeling too proud of his recent activities and wasn't so sure. Dan got up to pace the room. He got as far as the wall and toppled sideways. Tom grabbed him and sat him back down on the bed. "Argh. I am so dizzy," complained Dan.

"Probably a side-effect of the whatever brainwashing they used," said Tom. "Hopefully it'll wear off soon. They seemed to think it was wearing off more quickly than before so with a bit of luck they won't use it again."

"They probably won't need to," said Dan looking forlornly at Tom.

"Why ? What do you mean ?" asked Tom, looking baffled.

"Because they've got you," said Dan. Tom still looked puzzled. "Because I'm not going to let anything happen to you am I ?" asked Dan. "They know that. Just the same as they can use me against you," he pointed out.

"Oh. Of course. I should have known that," said Tom glumly. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you again," he said firmly.

Dan smiled gently back at him. "Same here," he said quietly. "We'll get out of here Tom. We'll find a way," said Dan in a determined voice. "With your technical skills and my, erm .." he tailed off.

"Boy scouting ?" suggested Tom.

Dan laughed. "Yeah, that," he agreed. They both stopped talking when they heard footsteps.

"Well, isn't this cosy !" said a sarcastic voice. Three KORPS guards stood outside the door. One was carrying a folding bed. They opened the door and threw in the folded up bed with some blankets. Then they put two trays of food on the floor, spilling most of the drinks in the process. "Enjoy !" said the guard and the three men marched off sniggering amongst themselves.

Dan and Tom stared at the pile of stuff on the floor of the cramped cell. "Yeah, I should have said, Room Service is crap round here," said Dan. Tom grinned for the first time that day.


	11. Chapter 11

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Retail therapy and old style disguise.**

_Dan and Tom stared at the pile of stuff on the floor of the cramped cell. "Yeah, I should have said, Room Service is crap round here," said Dan. Tom grinned for the first time that day. _

"They took Tom !" said Aneisha in disbelief. "How ?"

"They used Dan as bait," said Frank. "I told Tom to stay indoors, but he couldn't resist trying to rescue Dan. At least that was obviously what he thought he was going to do," he added helplessly.

"It was a trap," said Keri, nodding. "OK, what do we do ?" she asked.

"Well, for one thing, I don't want you to get caught !" said Frank in frustration. "I've got hardly any team left now !" he said, leaping to his feet.

Aneisha and Keri glanced at each other. They had been so concerned themselves, they had forgotten how distressing this must be for Frank. "Frank, we'll get them back. That's what we do isn't it ?" said Keri calmly.

"Keri's right. We just need to keep our heads and get to work," said Aneisha, struggling to calm her own nerves. "It's not like we can't spot this disguise device is it ? It sticks out like a sore thumb on the CCTV."

"Well, yes, if they're planning to use it. It was broken by Tom in that jewellery raid," pointed out Frank. "I think they need Tom to help repair it or possibly to make some more. I can't think why else they would take him too. It was a deliberate kidnapping," he added thoughtfully.

"Okay. So we think they're going to make some more of those disguise thingies," said Keri. "Maybe they're going to need some stuff. It's Monday, so if they're going to go shopping, most of the shops won't be open until 9am at the earliest," she said confidently. "What ?" she asked looked round at everyone's baffled stares. "Did I say something ?" she asked.

"It's just that KORPS are not really your queuing at the checkout kind of people," said Aneisha, leaning back against a table and folding her arms. "They're more of the smash, grab, 'Oi, give that here' kind of people," she said.

"Well, just suggesting !" complained Keri.

"Actually, it's not a bad idea. If they're in a hurry, and they usually are, they aren't going to travel far for what they want," said Frank, stroking his chin. Just then, his phone rang. "Yes ? Really ? Result !" said Frank. He closed the call. "A stroke of luck everyone. We've been tipped off by a local electronics retailer that a mystery caller placed an order for a strange collection of electronic components. What really caught their attention though was when they were asked for a supplier of pure carbon."

"Pure carbon ?" said Aneisha blankly. "What do they want that for ?"

"Absolutely no idea," said Frank. "They were told to contact one of the university suppliers. Guess where we're going ?" he said.

Later that morning, a white van was driving through town, heading towards a large electronics retailer. "This is the right place isn't it ?" asked one man in plain overalls.

"No, I decided to go somewhere else, Dumbo !" complained his companion. "Of course it's the right place you idiot," he added. "I've ordered what we want and they're going to have it ready for us," he explained. Honestly, some of the people who worked for KORPS were complete morons !

"What, you just phoned up and asked for it ?" asked the other man in amazement. "Weren't they suspicious or nothing ?" he asked.

"No. They just took the order and said it would be ready at 11am," said the driver proudly.

"How are you going to pay for it then ?" asked the second man. "You got a credit card or something ? Do KORPS have a corporate credit card ?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's right. I've got KORPS plastic !" said the driver rolling his eyes. "Of course we're not going to pay for it you idiot. We're going to take it," he said, jerking his head over his shoulder. The second man looked round and saw a small heap of weapons in the back of the van, piled up between four other KORPS agents, all dressed in black overalls. One of the men smiled at him evilly. Several of his front teeth were missing. The second man turned back to face the front.

"Well, that's not going to draw attention to ourselves is it ?" he asked, folding his arms.

"What were you expecting when you joined KORPS ?" asked the driver. "Picnics on Sunday and ballroom dancing lessons ?" he said, with a guffaw. "Get real !"

They pulled up outside a large out of town retailer of electronics equipment and components. "Right, you lot wait here until I give the order," instructed the driver. The men in the back nodded and grunted before picking up their weapons. The two men in the front got out of the van and walked into the building by the 'Trades' entrance. A young dark-skinned woman wearing glasses was sitting at the reception desk.

"Can I help you gentlemen ?" she asked politely, but sternly.

"Yeah, we put in an order for stuff. Body Parts Industries," said the driver. The other man looked at him in disbelief. He quickly plastered a confident smile on his face.

"We wasn't sure how much there was to carry. We've got the van parked outside," said the second man. The driver frowned at him. This was his mission and he was in charge here.

"Oh yes. We have your order ready. I need a signature," said the woman holding out a clip board with a form attached. The driver took the form.

"Could you help my colleague get the stuff loaded ?" he asked.

"Certainly. I'll get someone to help you," said the young woman. She pressed a button on the phone beside her. "Mr. Glasgow and Miss Winters to the trade counter please !" she announced, before smiling to the KORPS agent as he returned his form. She glanced at the form. The man had written 'K. Orpse'. Seriously ! Where were they recruiting evil super agents these days ?

Frank and Keri came out of a door and Aneisha pointed them towards a pile of boxes. "Could you help these men load their van please ?" she asked. They nodded and picked up some boxes. "I'll need a credit card from you please Mr. erm Orpse," she said. Aneisha caught Keri's grin in her peripheral vision. "Is that Kevin ?" she asked innocently.

"What ?" asked the KORPS agent blankly.

"Never mind," said Aneisha quickly. "In here please," she said, holding out a card reader.

The KORPS agent pulled at his top pocket. "Now !" he said.

"I'm sorry ?" asked Aneisha. "Now what ?" she asked, still holding the credit card machine. She heard a thunder of footsteps and two KORPS agents dressed in black ran through the doors. They stopped in front of the desk, tapping long black sticks threateningly against their hands.

"I'm sorry, but I think I've reached my credit card limit for this month," said the driver smarmily. "We'll just take the goods if you don't mind," he added.

Aneisha calmly put down the credit card machine and reached under her desk. She pressed the alarm button. A loud klaxon started to blare out and lights started to flash.

"What ?" said the startled KORPS driver. "Get them boxes and let's get out of here !" he ordered. The two black-clad agents grabbed the two remaining boxes and struggled out through the doors with them. Aneisha watched them all go with her arms folded and her eyebrows raised. These people were hopeless. If only all of KORPS were this stupid, they would be easy to beat.

After a few seconds, Frank and Keri came back inside. "Right, they've gone," said Frank, dusting off his hands. "They didn't send their best did they ?" he said, taking off his baseball cap.

"You're not kidding !" agreed Aneisha. "Did MI9 get everything inside the boxes ?" she asked.

"Yes. Tom shouldn't have any trouble putting together a communicator," said Frank. "Right, we'd better get moving. We need to make sure they get that pure carbon next." They spoke to the retail staff who had come out to turn off all the alarms and reassured them that they shouldn't be bothered again. Then they returned their staff uniforms and left for the MI9 van parked round the side of the building. Aneisha removed her disguise once inside. Keri tied up her hair and put on a wig.

"This wig so doesn't suit me !" she complained. "I really don't get blonde."

Their van sped across town to a small building nearer the town centre. They had to arrive before KORPS, but MI9 had made arrangements with the local police to have all the traffic lights go green for them. They'd also made sure that the KORPS van would face a string of red lights to slow them down. Even so, they made it to the suppliers with only a few minutes to spare. Keri hurriedly pulled on her overalls and took her place in the small shop front. The shelves behind her were stacked with jars and bottles of chemicals used by schools and colleges for experiments and demonstrations. She hoped she wasn't going to knock anything over.

She adjusted her wig just before the door opened and the KORPS driver walked in. "Can I help you ?" she asked politely. The man stared at her. She hoped he wasn't going to recognise her from the electronics supplier's. The man shook his head and spoke.

"I phoned earlier about some pure carbon. I was told you had some," he said.

"We do," said Keri. "You asked for more than we currently have in stock," she said. Keri consulted a piece of paper on the counter. "We're expecting more stock in on Thursday," she promised him with a helpful smile. She hoped it was a helpful smile.

The man looked at her uncertainly. "Well, how much have you got ?" he asked.

"We have about a quarter of what you asked for," Keri told him. "Will that do for now ?" she asked.

The man scratched his head. He hadn't planned for this situation and he wasn't sure what to do. If he stole the carbon they had, then it wouldn't be so easy to come back on Thursday for the rest of it. On the other hand, he didn't have any money to pay for it. "Erm, could we pay when we pick up the rest ?" he asked hopefully.

"Do you have an account with us ?" asked Keri, pretending to look at another piece of paper.

"No. We're new," said the man. "Body Parts Industries," he added. He was starting to sweat.

Keri could almost hear the man's brain working, desperately trying to think his way out of the situation. She wondered how long she could continue to torture him for, when she heard a voice in her ear. "Keri, for God's sake just give him the carbon !" said Frank's exasperated voice. "Get rid of him !"

"That will be fine," said Keri with a smile. "I'll just get it for you," she said. Keri walked through the door behind the counter and took the two white plastic containers which Frank handed to her. She put them down on the counter and smiled at the KORPS agent. "We'll see you again on Thursday then," she said brightly.

"Yeah. Thanks," said the man, picking up the containers and leaving quickly.

"Or maybe earlier," said Keri under her breath.


	12. Chapter 12

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Boys and their toys. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. It's really appreciated, however many I get :)**

_Keri walked through the door behind the counter and took the two white plastic containers which Frank handed to her. She put them down on the counter and smiled at the KORPS agent. "We'll see you again on Thursday then," she said brightly._

"_Yeah. Thanks," said the man, picking up the containers and leaving quickly._

"_Or maybe earlier," said Keri under her breath._

Back at HQ Frank and Stella watched the tracers they had placed in the electronics boxes travelling through the KORPS base. "Like taking candy from a baby !" said Keri quietly. Frank and Stella glanced across at her. "Is it always this easy ?" asked Keri.

"No," said Frank, Stella and Aneisha together, before looking back to their screen.

"They've stopped," said Stella. They all leaned in to get a better look. "That must be where they're building these disguise units," said Stella.

"But that won't be where they're keeping Tom and Dan," pointed out Aneisha.

"Tom will probably be there most of the time," said Frank. "It's a start. Hopefully Tom will find the equipment we put in the boxes and build a communicator. Then we can find out some more information," he added. "You two need to show your faces upstairs. We've arranged for you both to have morning dentist appointments. Report in to the school office when you get back. I'll let you know if we find out anything," he instructed Aneisha and Keri. "If we look like we're going to take action tomorrow, I'll arrange a cover for you both," he promised them.

In a KORPS headquarters across town Tom and Mr. Strang were staring at four large boxes of components and two containers full of pure carbon. "Where do we start ?" asked Tom.

"Well, I could show you the current control system and you could learn how to make one. If I explain the deposition process for the graphene and how I've adapted the 3D printer you know how to do everything," said Strang.

Tom looked over his shoulder to the closed door and stood closer to the scientist. Still unsure if they were being overheard, he pulled a piece of paper over and scribbled on it, "Don't teach me everything !"

Strang looked at him in complete puzzlement and pulled the paper towards him. "Why ?" he wrote.

"If you teach me everything, they won't need you any more !" wrote Tom.

"Oooooh," said Strang quietly. There was a pause of a few seconds before Strang spoke again. "Well, there's no rush to learn everything straight away," he said a little too loudly. "Let's take it one step at a time." He picked up the piece of paper they had used and pushed it into a glass chamber at the side of the room, pressed a button and the paper vapourised instantly. Strang dusted off his hands and said, "Let's get to work then."

Strang opened up a control device and explained its main components to Tom. Strang programmed up the memory chips while Tom was putting together the components. One of the KORPS guards brought them food in what Tom assumed was the middle of the day. With no windows, it was difficult to gauge the passing of time. He hoped that Dan was being fed as well. After they had eaten, the Crime Minister came to check on progress. She looked less than pleased to find a partially complete controller and nothing else.

"This controller has no suit to control," complained the Crime Minister.

"There are only two of us Crime Minister," said Strang.

"Can you teach the other boy to produce the suit ?" asked the Crime Minister.

Tom and Strang looked at one another. "I could show him how to coat the suit," suggested Tom. It would be good to see his friend again, although he wasn't keen to speed up the process.

"Very well. Bring the other boy !" instructed the Crime Minister. Shortly Dan was brought into the laboratory. Tom instructed Dan in what Strang had shown him, using the carbon to produce the graphene coating on the suit. Dan followed the instructions and got to work.

It took them the rest of the day to complete the control unit and suit. "I wonder why they aren't getting you to train up the KORPS guards," Dan said to Strang.

Strang shook his head. "I don't know. They don't seem particularly, erm, technically minded to me," he said quietly. This cheered Dan up enormously. Nobody had ever called him technically minded before. Then he realised that Strang only meant that the KORPS guards here were exceptionally dim. Dan quite enjoyed making the Chameleon suit. It was way more interesting than sitting in the tiny cell on his own.

Dan pulled on the finished suit so that Tom and Strang could test the new controller. With the hood over his head, he couldn't tell what he looked like himself. He had apparently worn it once before, but he had no memory of the mission he had been forced to carry out. "What does it look like ?" Dan asked.

"Take the hood down and look in the mirror," suggested Tom. Dan did as he was told and looked at himself in bafflement. He looked like he was wearing a long red dress. He could see his head on top, but he was wearing a long red dress with bare arms and women's legs showing through a slit which ran up to his thigh. Deeply weird ! The whole experience was creeping him out, so he turned away from the mirror. Tom and Strang were in deep discussion over the operation of the controller.

"Is it working all right ?" asked Dan.

"Seems to be," said Tom in a distracted voice. Strang continued muttering to himself and didn't reply.

Dan was feeling stiff after being cooped up in the cell and then hunched over the graphene and printing machine for the rest of the day. He did a couple of warm-up stretches and then cart-wheeled across the floor.

"Whoah ! What happened there ?" asked Tom.

Dan stopped and looked at the two concerned faces of Tom and Strang.

"What's the matter ?" asked Dan.

"Something went weird with your legs," said Tom. "They kind of multiplied when you turned upside down."

"Felt all right to me," said Dan.

"Well ? Have you got it working yet ?" demanded an angry voice. The Crime Minister walked into the room, accompanied by three KORPS agents they hadn't seen before.

"Yes Crime Minister. It is operational," Strang assured her hurriedly. The Crime Minister clicked her fingers at Dan. He pulled the hood back over his head and walked across the room and back.

"Excellent !" said the Crime Minister. Dan pulled the hood off his head again. He started pulling off the suit. "Keep it on !" ordered the Crime Minister. "We have a mission. We will need both of the suits. You will use one," she said to Dan. "You boy, will help Strang operate the suits !" she said to Tom. She turned and pushed her face into Dan's. "If you do not follow our instructions perfectly, your friend will pay," she spat at him.

"But, he's the only other person who knows how to make the Chameleon suit," Dan protested.

"Oh, we won't kill him," snarled the Crime Minister. "We will make him suffer," she said, with an evil smile. One of the guards raised his stun stick and pointed it at Dan's chest. "I have heard that they're painful," she said. Dan swallowed and nodded.

The Crime Minister whirled around and pointed to one of the newly arrived guards. "You will take the other suit. Instruct the boy on the mission," she ordered the man. He nodded and waved for Dan to follow him. Tom and Strang watched as they left the room. This man looked to be a cut above the other guards who worked at the facility. He moved like a cat and his expression was severe and cruel. Tom wondered what 'mission' KORPS had planned.


	13. Chapter 13

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Mission on !**

_The Crime Minister whirled around and pointed to one of the newly arrived guards. "You will take the other suit. Instruct the boy on the mission," she ordered the man. He nodded and waved for Dan to follow him. Tom and Strang watched as they left the room. This man looked to be a cut above the other guards who worked at the facility. He moved like a cat and his expression was severe and cruel. Tom wondered what 'mission' KORPS had planned._

Whatever tiredness had been washing over Dan after their day in the laboratory had been swiftly swept away on a wave of adrenaline. The KORPS agent who was giving him his instructions was some sort of field agent and was clearly superior to the men with whom he'd had contact so far. The agent's instructions were clear and brief. Dan had to repeat everything he was told to make sure he knew what he had to do. Once the series of events had been explained to him, the other man leant in and poked him in the chest with his finger.

"Right you get this MI9 agent. In KORPS, failure is punished. You fail and we will punish you and your friend. We don't care about fault or circumstances, only success. Succeed and you will be spared. Fail and you will both pay the price. Got it ?" he demanded, with one final jab in the ribs. Dan nodded. "You will follow my orders and you will not deviate. You will not attempt to pass on any messages. You will not try to spare any target. You will not try to escape. Failure to comply with any of these instructions will result in your death. Understand ?" asked the KORPS agent. Dan nodded again. Boy, these people had a different staff policy to MI9. Dan knew which one he preferred.

Dan was taken through the building to meet with their transport. He lined up outside with the KORPS agents. He was joined by the other field agent who was wearing the repaired Chameleon suit. Dan looked across and saw Tom standing with Mr. Strang. Dan frowned at Tom questioningly. In reply, Tom just waved the Chameleon suit controller at him. Dan nodded in understanding. He hoped that Tom was working his suit. He liked to know that Tom had his back. The KORPS agent clicked his fingers and motioned Dan towards one of the white vans parked in the yard.

The KORPS team arrived outside an anonymous building in the city centre. Dan and the lead KORPS agent jumped out of the back of their van. They had been given headsets with cameras, but discovered that they wouldn't work through the Chameleon field. Finally they had been given earpieces and microphones which did work. The small army of ordinary KORPS agents joined them in a narrow alley running between the target building and its neighbour. Someone set to work unscrewing a panel next to the ventilation outlets. As soon as it was off, Dan and his partner jumped into the opening behind the panel. It was a tight squeeze. Dan had to pull himself carefully past the rotating blades of a fan.

The two agents then scrambled as quietly as they could through the maze of ducts running through the building. Twice they encountered metal grids blocking access through the ducts, but Dan had been supplied with cutting equipment to get them through. Finally the other man tapped him on the shoulder to tell him they'd reached their destination. The two lay looking down through a grille on to a room below. There were voices talking. Dan looked up at the other man who whispered, "Wait until they leave." Dan waited, hoping that the people below would never leave, but eventually they did. Immediately they set to unscrewing the grille panel, before dropping silently to the floor below. "Turn on the suits !" ordered the KORPS agent. Dan looked at the man in front of him. There was a blurring of his view and then he flickered and reappeared as someone else. Dan found it hard to focus on the other man, blinking in confusion. Was his hair black ? No it was brown, brownish. He could swear that the harder he looked, the more different the man looked. His concentration was broken by the other man clicking his fingers and pointing to the door. As confidently as he could, Dan walked out of the door and set off up the corridor, followed closely by the other man.

Frank and Stella were sitting in the MI High base searching for any news of Dan and Tom. Frank's phone rang. After a brief conversation he turned to Stella. "We've got a sighting. We're going to have to be quick," he said. "Here's the address," he said, scribbling on a piece of paper. "I'll get the others," he said. Stella got busy while Frank called the two girls at home. The school day had ended.

It only took Aneisha and Keri a couple of minutes to get ready. They were each waiting by their front door when Frank pulled up in a black van outside. "See you later !" shouted Keri to her foster parents. Aneisha was at home on her own as usual so had no trouble leaving the house. "Where are they ?" asked Keri.

"We've had a sighting of the disguise suits on CCTV in a secret government office in the city centre," Frank explained. He went quiet for a moment as he navigated a set of traffic lights. They were being set to green to let them through as quickly as possible, but there was still other traffic on the road. They couldn't tear through the streets under flashing blue lights without attracting attention.

Frank pulled up outside a fast food outlet. "This is it ?" asked Keri, looking amused.

"No, this is the secret entrance," said Frank patiently.

"Ooooh !" said Keri, following the other two into the building.

Frank glanced around the small shop front and the group of people waiting for their meals. "Can we use the facilities ?" Frank asked the man filling boxes with food. The man gestured behind to a narrow corridor leading to the back of the shop. "Thanks," said Frank. He led the two girls back through the shop. There were a couple of toilets and a door marked 'Staff Only'. Frank glanced up at a CCTV camera above and the door clicked open. They all walked through the door and Keri was shocked to find herself in a carpeted reception area.

"Agent London," said a woman behind the desk. "They're expecting you," she said, smiling at the two younger agents. A door at the side of the room swung open and Frank walked quickly through, followed by Aneisha and a staring Keri. This was classy !

"Wow ! I like this," said Keri quietly to Aneisha. Aneisha smiled tensely back.

"Don't forget why we're here," Aneisha reminded her friend. This brought Keri back to earth with a a bump. She had a job to do.

A man ran out of a room to greet Frank. "Agent London ! They're on the fifth floor. We think they're heading for the archives," he told them. "Chief Agent Knight has called for a SWAT team. They should be here in two minutes," he added.

Frank turned to Aneisha and Keri. "Keep your spy pods ready. You won't be able to see them without a screen," he said. They ran for the lifts and headed for the fifth floor.

"Why don't they attack them themselves then ?" asked Keri. Aneisha had been wondering the same thing.

"This a back office operation," explained Frank. "This office is for administration and archive material only. I can't think what KORPS want here," he said, sounding puzzled. They arrived at the fifth floor and jumped out into an empty corridor, all in fighting poses. Realising that the corridor was empty, they all stood up straight and looked at one another.

Frank's phone rang. "Frank ! You forgot the headsets," Stella pointed out. Frank grimaced. "Go to your right. They're trying to access the archive suite on your floor," Stella told him. Frank thanked her quickly and waved the others after him.

They arrived at a set of double doors with passcard access. Frank opened the door and they stepped inside. Three men glanced up as they walked in. They all looked eerily similar. Aneisha and Keri stared in confusion. The two men on the right were dressed in almost identical clothing and had similar hair. It was hard to focus though. "It's the two on the right !" whispered Aneisha.

"How do you know ?" asked Frank.

"It's just really hard to look at them," whispered Aneisha. Frank surreptitiously pulled out his spy pod and tried to get a reading on the three people ahead of them. Aneisha was right. The two images on the right were a projection.

"We need to take them," said Frank. The three MI9 agents walked up towards the three men. One of the two intruders twisted round to look at them before he grabbed the third man and held a knife to his throat.

"Stop there !" ordered the intruder. "Tell him where to get the file !" he ordered his captive. The man stammered some information and the intruder nodded to the other man to go. The second intruder hesitated and then headed off into the filing system.

"You can't get out. This place is surrounded," Frank warned the man. He paused and stared in astonishment. The second man had returned carrying a file, but now looked nothing like he had before. His whole appearance had changed. When he returned to stand beside the other man his appearance morphed again, back to a copy of the MI9 operative being held hostage. Frank mentally shook himself and remembered that this disguise device used his own mind to create the image.

"Now, you get back. We're walking out of here !" ordered the intruder. "Come on !" he instructed the other agent. The other man hesitated again. "Remember what happens to the other kid if you don't do what you're told !" the man snapped. Instantly the second man obeyed.

"Dan !" exclaimed Keri. "It's you isn't it ?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Easier said than done. This obviously takes place after "The Beginning" so sorry to anyone who hasn't seen it yet :)**

"_Now, you get back. We're walking out of here !" ordered the intruder. "Come on !" he instructed the other agent. The other man hesitated again. "Remember what happens to the other kid if you don't do what you're told !" the man snapped. Instantly the second man obeyed._

"_Dan !" exclaimed Keri. "It's you isn't it ?"_

The intruder shook his head urgently at her, keeping close to the other man and his hostage. He was clutching the file to his chest. They followed the small group through the building to a back door. As they backed out into a yard area the intruder pushed his hostage away and the two men ran for a vehicle parked at the end of the alleyway. The MI9 SWAT team ran out of hiding to attack them. The two intruders started fighting. The second man started flipping and jumping off the walls. As he moved quickly, his image started to blur and change. At one point he appeared to have four or five legs, flickering through the air. Keri and Aneisha knew that it had to be Dan and they didn't want to hurt him and anyway Aneisha was very reluctant to fight him, knowing that he was the stronger fighter.

After a moment's hesitation Aneisha and Keri joined in with the other agents, but a large group of KORPS agents poured round the corner and started to push back the MI9 attack. The two disguised men were withdrawing behind the KORPS agents' protection. Finally, the MI9 group were unable to stop them and the two men jumped into the van which drove away. The rest of the KORPS agents then ran back around the corner and most of them made their escape in another vehicle.

"No !" shouted Aneisha. "We've lost them again !" she shouted in despair.

Frank grabbed his phone and rang Stella to tell her what had happened. "I think they're using Dan and Tom as insurance against one another," he told her. "If we're going to get them back, we have to get them both together. There's no other way," he added. "What did they take anyway ?" he asked. "Oh, no," he said heavily, before closing the call.

"What is it ?" asked Aneisha. "What did they take ?"

"It was a classified file about the secret laboratory of KORPS agent, Walter M. Dainbridge, alias 'The Fox'," said Frank.

"Oh," said Keri. "That's not good. It's right next door to our base," she added.

"Precisely," said Frank. "Stella wants us to lock down the base and stay off operations until MI9 have secured the old KORPS base."

"But if we do that, we're not going to get Tom and Dan back !" complained Aneisha.

Frank sighed. "I'm not sure what we can do," he said, looking worried.

"Sir ?" said an MI9 agent running up to them. "One of our agents saw inside the white van which drove off with the fugitives Sir. They saw Agent Tupper inside, holding what looked like some sort of control device," he explained.

Frank thanked the man and turned to the others. "They must be control devices for the disguise suits," he said thoughtfully. "They must have to be reasonably close to operate."

"So if Dan is in the suit, Tom has to be nearby with the control device," said Aneisha. "That's how we get them together !" she said with a smile.

"If we weren't taken off duty !" Keri reminded them, her hands planted on her hips. "This is rubbish ! We're going to get them back aren't we ?" she demanded angrily.

"Yes, we most definitely are," Frank said quietly. "Let's get back. We've got some thinking to do."

The KORPS van arrived back at the base and Strang, Tom and Dan were ordered out. The file was taken from Dan and they were marched back to Strang's laboratory. The scientist was told to sit at one side of the laboratory while the two agents were made to stand on the other side of the lab. The KORPS field agent who had worked with Dan marched in, followed by the Crime Minister.

"We have what we want," crowed the Crime Minister. "I want more suits. Mr. Strang I want you to instruct some of our agents in their construction. You boy !" she said, pointing at Tom, "You will make another tomorrow and you will also instruct our agents in its construction." Then she looked to the other KORPS agent.

The KORPS agent nodded and walked up to Tom. "You did your job boy. Keep on doing your job and you will stay alive. If you fail, your friend will die !" he snapped. Tom swallowed nervously and glanced at Dan. Dan was staring straight ahead. "Take off the Chameleon suit !" ordered the agent. Dan slowly stripped off the suit which was snatched from his hand and tossed on to a bench. The KORPS agent stood in front of Dan and stared into his face.

"You boy ! You hesitated. You hesitated twice. I told you what would happen if you did not obey me immediately didn't I ?" demanded the man.

Dan said nothing and stared ahead. He was hoping they wouldn't hurt Tom. Please don't let them hurt Tom ! Surely they wouldn't hurt him if they needed him to build more Chameleon suits.

"You're going to learn to obey boy !" shouted the KORPS agent. Without warning he slammed his fist into Dan's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Dan gasped and sank to his knees where he was kicked in the side and punched in the head. "That's for the first hesitation boy. This is for the second !" he snarled, grabbing a stun weapon from the table. There was a flash of discharge from the stick and Dan fell unconscious to the floor.

Tom stared ahead, trying desperately to stop the tear threatening to trickle from his eye. His desperate gaze caught that of Strang on the other side of the room. The man was hugging a clip board. He looked sickened and appalled. They were both out of their depth. Tom had never felt so lost and helpless.

The Crime Minister snorted in satisfaction. "Good. Well I'm glad that's all settled," she said as if nothing had happened. "Take them away !" she ordered.

Tom walked back to their cell, followed by two KORPS guards, carrying Dan. The men dropped Dan on the cell floor, locked the door and left. Tom knelt beside his unconscious friend and checked his pulse. Dan's heart was beating slowly. Tom tried to pick up Dan to lift him on to the bed. He struggled and strained. He couldn't believe how heavy Dan was. After a couple of minutes of sweating and hauling, all he had managed to do was drag Dan closer to the bed. He fell back, puffing and gasping for breath. Surely he should be able to lift Dan up on to the bed ! Finally, the tears came. Frustration, exhaustion and the shock of watching Dan being hurt hit home and he sat leaning against Dan's bed with tears rolling down his face.

As the tears started to subside, Tom wiped his face dry with his sleeve. This was not good enough. He was not going to give in. He would show these people. They weren't free to hurt Tom's friends and get away with it. Filled with fury, Tom reached down and with his renewed strength hauled Dan's unconscious upper body up and on to the bed. Having lifted Dan's torso, it was a much easier matter to lift his legs up. Tom pulled the blankets over his friend and then sank back on to his own small bed exhausted.

After sitting staring at Dan for a while he heard footsteps coming down the corridor. Two of the original KORPS guards put down two trays of food on the cell floor. Tom didn't make any attempt to pick up his tray. The cell door was locked shut, but the two men stood staring at him. The two men looked nervously at one another. One guard nudged the other's arm. "Go on. You ask him !" he whispered.

"Why do I have to ask him ?" demanded the second man, before tutting and giving in. "Why are they getting you to train the new guys ?" he asked Tom.

"What new guys ?" asked Tom, not really caring.

"Those new agents. You know, the really tough ones who turned up this morning," said the first guard.

"I expect they're going to replace you with better people," said Tom bitterly.

The two men looked at one another in fright. "I told you ! I told you didn't I ?" demanded the second man fearfully. They both froze at the sound of distant voices up the corridor. "Come on. We should get moving before anyone notices," whispered the man. The two guards hastily disappeared up the corridor.

Tom watched the two men go and a frown creased his forehead. An idea was starting to form in his head. Then a small smile lifted his lips. Maybe, just maybe !


	15. Chapter 15

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Starting the fight back.**

_The two men looked at one another in fright. "I told you ! I told you didn't I ?" demanded the second man fearfully. They both froze at the sound of distant voices up the corridor. "Come on. We should get moving before anyone notices," whispered the man. The two guards hastily disappeared up the corridor._

_Tom watched the two men go and a frown creased his forehead. An idea was starting to form in his head. Then a small smile lifted his lips. Maybe, just maybe !_

The following day, Aneisha and Keri stood with Frank at the back of the assembly hall. Assembly had just finished and students were slowly streaming out to their lessons. Frank slipped Aneisha and Keri some equipment. "I've adapted my mop trolley with a feed from HQ. I'm waiting for any information about KORPS attacks using the disguise suits," Frank whispered. "Have you got your spy pods with you ?" he asked. Aneisha and Keri both nodded. "Good. Keep these on you as well. If we manage to get close to Dan I want you to use one of these," he said, handing them each a small hand-held device.

"It's a taser !" said Aneisha. "You want us to taser Dan ?" she asked.

"Yes. It's the only way," Frank assured her quietly. "He won't come without Tom and this is a relatively harmless way of putting him out of action for long enough to rescue them both," he added.

"It's not exactly a painless way though is it ?" asked Aneisha.

Frank shrugged. "If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears," he said resignedly.

"Sleep dart ?" asked Keri hopefully.

"Haven't got any," said Frank shortly.

Aneisha and Keri looked at one another, sighed, and slipped the tasers into their bags. "I guess not then," admitted Aneisha.

"Good. Keep alert for a message from me. Officially I'm off the grid. We will need to move the instant I get any information. Are you with me ?" he asked them intently.

"Of course we are," said Keri. "Did you really have to ask ?" she said with a smile. Frank smiled at them both and patted their shoulders. They turned and headed off to their first class while Frank wheeled his mop trolley off through the school, slipping his earphones in. He could have been listening to his favourite music, but he was listening to a live MI9 communications feed. He wasn't going to miss any chance to get his team back together.

Tom returned to the laboratory early the next day. Dan had eventually regained consciousness the previous evening but hadn't felt like eating. Tom had managed to persuade the guards to leave Dan's food tray for him to eat later. That morning, no effort had been made to bring Dan to the laboratory. Tom arrived to find Strang and two of the new KORPS agents waiting. "You will instruct us on this Chameleon suit !" one of them ordered.

Tom and Strang looked at one another. "Are you experienced in technical work ?" Strang asked them hesitantly.

"We are not like these idiots here, if that is what you mean," said one of the agents dismissively.

"Well, let's see how we get on," said Strang. Strang started talking the two KORPS men through the process for creating the graphene and then took the second to show him how to use the 3D printer. Meanwhile Tom started going through the box of components. He found a few items he wasn't expecting. He was sure they weren't on the list. He turned them over in his hand in puzzlement, then suddenly realised that they had been put there for him to find. He was holding the components for a communications device. He glanced over at the KORPS agents, but they were bent over the 3D printer with Strang listening intently to his instructions. Tom slipped the components into his pockets. He dropped something on the floor and bent down to pick it up, using the opportunity to slip a screw driver into his sock.

The two KORPS agents came over from the 3D printer obviously feeling confident. "Now, this is the difficult part," said Strang, shooting a sideways glance at the two men. He started to run through how the controllers worked and it soon became clear that the two men were not following his explanation. Strang began simplifying his explanation and running through things several times in an attempt to help the men understand.

Typically for people used to dishing out the instructions, the two KORPS agents became belligerent. "Look, it can't be this complicated !" complained one man. "You're just making this up !" he declared.

"No, no that isn't true !" Strang protested. "It's not simple technology," he said, looking to Tom for support.

"Look, he invented it didn't he ?" pointed out Tom. "If it were simple you would be able to get it in the shops wouldn't you ?" he added. "MI9 would love to have this, but they haven't invented it yet. I would know," he said.

The two KORPS men glared at them both. "Look, why don't you just start with the basic stuff and we'll work on the more complex electronics as we go along," suggested Tom. "We can't make it any less complicated than it actually is. We'll just have to take it slowly."

"Oh, and we're running out of pure carbon again," pointed out Strang. "The other men said they would get the rest on Thursday. We're going to need it," he added.

"All right. We'll get it sorted," said one of the KORPS agents. Reluctantly the two men agreed to get started with the easier work and let Strang and Tom get on with making the next control device. Obviously the prospect of not having a new suit ready for the Crime Minister was more worrying than not learning everything about how to make it.

Tom and Strang started assembling the next control device. Tom pulled out the communicator parts he had hidden in his clothing and began putting them together on the work bench beside the control device. Strang looked at him questioningly when he noticed what Tom was doing. Tom raised his eyebrows at the other man and saw the expression change on Strang's face when he realised what Tom was making. The other man smiled at him and said nothing. They talked together as if they were only assembling the control device. Strang occasionally handed Tom something he would need while they both worked. Tom knew that Strang was fully on his side now. All he needed were a few more recruits and they were probably good to go.

At the end of the day the Crime Minister visited the laboratory again to check on progress. They were able to demonstrate the operation of another new Chameleon suit. This time one of the KORPS agents wore it. "Good. We have a mission tomorrow. We have the location of the laboratory of one of the first scientists of KORPS. Your job will be to infiltrate its location and retrieve information vital to KORPS. Have everything ready," she ordered before marching out. The two KORPS agents laid out the new equipment alongside the previous suits and left.

"Three suits," said Strang. "I wonder if they will use your friend again," he wondered.

"I hope so," said Tom. Strang looked surprised, but didn't ask Tom any questions.

Tom was led back to his cell by one of the original guards. The man glanced around him to check they were alone before he spoke to Tom. "They got a mission on tomorrow then ?" he asked Tom.

"Yeah. I think they're going to use the new guys for it," said Tom. "Weren't you told about it ?" he asked innocently.

The other man just glowered. "They're not going to push us out of the picture !" he snarled. "They'll see !"

"Of course, if this mission didn't go very well, they wouldn't be too popular would they ?" asked Tom.

The other man looked at him sharply. "I'd never betray KORPS !" hissed the man.

"No, of course not. I'd never expect you to do that," Tom assured him quietly. "Still, I don't want to spend too much time with those guys, if you know what I mean. They really hurt my friend," he said.

The other man relaxed a little. "I guess you like them as much as I do," he admitted. "I suppose I wouldn't be too upset if those bastards found it a bit harder than they're used to," he whispered. "I might see my way to going a bit easier on you kid. Just don't try any funny business or the Crime Minister will have all our skins. Got it ?" he asked.

"Got it," said Tom.

Dan looked up when Tom entered their cell. He was sitting on his bed looking bored. Once the guard had gone, Dan shifted uncomfortably on his bed and asked Tom, "You been busy then ?"

Tom smiled and pulled the communicator from his trouser pocket. "Game on !" he said with a grin.


	16. Chapter 16

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Not part of the plan.**

_Dan looked up when Tom entered their cell. He was sitting on his bed looking bored. Once the guard had gone, Dan shifted uncomfortably on his bed and asked Tom, "You been busy then ?"_

_Tom smiled and pulled the communicator from his trouser pocket. "Game on !" he said with a grin._

Dan smiled. "You've been hoovering up the spare parts have you ?" he asked with a smile.

"I've got a reputation to keep up," said Tom, fiddling with the device, trying to get a suitable frequency. Finally, he thought he'd made a connection. "Hi, Frank ?" he said quietly, nodding to Dan. Dan walked stiffly across to the cell door to keep an eye out for guards. "Yeah I found all the bits thanks. They were at the bottom of the box so I didn't find them until today. "Strang helped cover for me while I put them together," Tom said. "Strang ? He's the guy who invented the Chameleon suit. He got tangled up with KORPS like an idiot. He wants out now," Tom assured Frank.

"Dan ? He's a bit bruised, but he's OK. Look Frank, I don't think I have very long. There's going to be a mission tomorrow. I think they're planning to get access to Dainbridge's old KORPS laboratory next to our base. … Oh, you guessed that did you ?" he asked. "Oh, is that what they stole ? Look, they have three suits now and I'm guessing they'll use them all and I think they're going to use Dan for one of them again. If he doesn't do exactly what they tell him to do they hurt him. A lot," said Tom, wincing. "You're going to have to help," he explained. "You will ? Great ! See you tomorrow then," he said, closing off the call.

"Someone's coming," Dan hissed, walking back to his bed and sitting down. Tom stuffed the communicator into his trouser pocket.

"Right. Food," announced one of the KORPS guards. They put the two trays down as usual and relocked the door. They stood looking at the two MI9 agents for a couple of seconds.

Dan and Tom looked back at them. Dan's brow creased. "What ?" he asked.

"You're going to make sure those guys don't look too good tomorrow right ?" asked one of the guards. Dan looked at Tom.

"That's my plan, yes," said Tom. "You might need to turn a bit of a blind eye," he said.

The two guards looked at one another and smirked. "I think we can manage that," said one. Still smirking to themselves, the two men marched off up the corridor.

"You have been busy !" said Dan.

"Just exploiting a few cracks in the KORPS armour my dear Watson !" said Tom cheerfully. "Now, tomorrow, we need to have a plan for getting you, me and Strang out at the same time so KORPS can't get to any of us."

"The KORPS agent didn't leave me alone for a second last time. They don't trust me," said Dan.

"Yes, well those guys aren't stupid are they ?" said Tom, rolling his eyes.

This made Dan laugh. "No. I wouldn't trust me either," he admitted.

"Right, you will need something to create a diversion, and then hide inside the secret tunnel," said Tom. "Why don't I ask Frank to leave you some sort of smoke bomb or explosive in the old KORPS laboratory that you can use ?"

"Yes, that sounds like a good plan," agreed Dan. "Make it something loud. The cover for the tunnel is really noisy."

Tom called up Frank, while Dan stood guard at the door and agreed their arrangements for the next day. "We'll see you there Frank," said Tom. "Bye !" he said closing the call. "Right, we're all set," he told Dan. "Let's eat. I'm starving !"

Early the next morning, Tom and Dan were pulled from their cell and marched to the laboratory. The Crime Minister was waiting with a group of the new KORPS agents and Strang. Looking at the line of grim faces struck Tom as almost comical. These people seemed to be permanently miserable. Clearly, being a criminal mastermind did not make you a happy person.

"There are three suits. You two will have to operate them all," the Crime Minister ordered Tom and Strang. The looked at one another and shrugged. "See if the boy is fit," she ordered the KORPS agent who had accompanied Dan on their previous mission. The KORPS agent picked up a stun stick and walked towards Dan. Dan gulped and took a step backwards.

The KORPS agent pointed the stun stick at Dan. "Run to the end of the lab and back, quickly !" he ordered Dan. Dan did as he was told. His side was still aching from where he had been kicked, but he managed the run. "20 push-ups !" ordered the KORPS agent. Dan really struggled to finish the set and stood up groaning. "Now, jump over the work bench !" ordered the agent. Still panting from the push ups, Dan ran at the bench, put his hands down and lifted himself in the air, trying to clear the bench. As he pushed hard with his right arm, the pain from his bruised ribs shot through him and he collapsed groaning on the far side of the bench, slipping on to the floor on his front. He desperately pulled himself to his hands and knees as he saw the approaching feet of the KORPS agent and the stun stick being waved towards him.

Dan looked up in fright at the stun stick which was now pointing directly into his chest and the sneering expression on the face of the agent. He was shocked when the man didn't use the stick, but stepped back and turned away.

"He isn't fit, Crime Minister," the KORPS agent said. "We can't risk using him," he added.

"I agree. You three will wear the suits," said the Crime Minister, pointing to three of the new KORPS agents. "Take the boy back to the cell !" she ordered the guards.

"Wait !" said Tom desperately, seeing the worried look on Dan's face. He dashed forward and hugged his friend. Dan looked surprised. "I'll see you later Okay ?" said Tom. Dan nodded and allowed himself to be led away.

"Oh, how heart warming !" said the Crime Minister sarcastically. "Now get to work before my patience is exhausted !" she ordered, leaving the room.

Dan sank on to his bed and watched the guard locking the cell door. The guard looked at him uncertainly. "I hope your mate has a plan that doesn't involve you," he said.

"Me too," muttered Dan, slumping against the cell wall. He waited until the guard's footsteps had disappeared up the corridor and then reached round his back. He pulled out the object which Tom had stuck in his trouser waist while hugging him. It was a screwdriver. Dan smiled. Plan B !

Keri and Aneisha waited in the school playground. "I really don't want to taser Dan. Can you do it ?" Aneisha asked Keri.

"Why me ? He's barely got above hating me yet !" complained Keri. "He's going to be really grateful if I knock him out with 10, 000 volts isn't he ?" she pointed out.

Aneisha grinned at her friend. "I think he's started trusting you a bit more now," she said. "It takes Dan a while to get used to somebody. He didn't trust Zoe to start with and look how they ended up," she said, smiling to herself.

"How did they end up ?" asked Keri, curiously.

"Well, let's just say we used to call them 'Romeo and Juliet'," said Aneisha, grinning at the memory. "It really wound Dan up something rotten."

Keri looked at her curiously. "I'm finding it hard to imagine Dan as the emotional type," she said.

"Oh he's got emotions all right," Aneisha assured her. Her grin faded. "He's really cut up about Zoe disappearing. I think he's struggling to keep in control."

"What ? Hard man Dan !" scoffed Keri.

"Yes. He's only hard on the outside you know," said Aneisha. She spotted a pair of large white vans pulling up outside the school. She touched her communicator. "Frank. They're here," she reported.

"Spotted them," came Frank's voice in her ear. "Take up your positions. We need to locate Dan and Tom," he said.


	17. Chapter 17

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Rescues and escapes.**

"_Yes. He's only hard on the outside you know," said Aneisha. She spotted a pair of large white vans pulling up outside the school. She touched her communicator. "Frank. They're here," she reported._

"_Spotted them," came Frank's voice in her ear. "Take up your positions. We need to locate Dan and Tom," he said._

Keri and Aneisha split up. Keri sauntered towards the school gates to try and get a view into the KORPS vans. They needed to know which van Tom and the other man were in. She was in time to see three men quickly jump out of the back of one van, but didn't manage to get a look inside to see if Tom was there or not. "Aneisha !" Keri said into her communicator. "I didn't get a look inside the van. I still don't know which van Tom and the other guy are in," she whispered.

"Which van did the agents come out of ?" asked Frank's voice.

"The one nearest the gate," said Keri.

"Okay, well let's work with the assumption that Tom and Strang are in that same van then," said Frank. "It's a big van so there should be room for at least seven or eight people."

"Why so many ?" asked Keri, puzzled.

"They wouldn't leave Tom and Strang unguarded," pointed out Frank. "There have to be at least four people left in the van."

"Oh, of course," said Keri, feeling stupid. "Sorry."

"Not a problem Keri," Frank assured her. "Follow the agents. There's no point in you telling me what they look like. They'll look different to me anyway. Make sure you don't lose sight of them in the crowd," he told her.

Nodding seriously, Keri followed close behind the three agents, wondering how they would work out which of them was Dan. She spotted Aneisha making a beeline for the group of agents.

"Hi !" said Aneisha brightly to the first of the disguised team. They appeared to be three school students. Admittedly they were all pretty tall students. Aneisha had to look up into the face of the one at the front. She appeared to be a tall girl with long, light brown hair, tied in a pony tail, with a school bag slung over one shoulder. "You're new aren't you ?" she asked cheerily.

The agent looked over his shoulder at one of the others. They shrugged. "Yeah, that's right. First day," said the agent, in what was clearly a deep, male voice. It wasn't Dan.

It took all of Aneisha's self-control not to burst out laughing at this grown man's voice coming from a young girl's face. "My, what a deep voice you have !" said Aneisha, trying not to grin.

The agent's face didn't show any emotion. It was strangely blank. He looked at his colleagues. "Come on. We need to go," said one of the other agents, and all three walked away.

Aneisha pulled out her communicator. "The two men I talked to weren't Dan. He must be the other guy. Did you see who I mean ?" she asked Frank and Keri.

"The one at the back ?" asked Keri.

"Yes, that's the one. Can you get close Keri, I think they're heading for the hidden entrance," said Aneisha. "I'll have to pull back a bit or they'll get suspicious."

"I'm on it," said Keri, wandering towards the entrance cover concealed amongst the bushes at the edge of the school yard. She was trying to make sure she kept her eye on the guy they had worked out had to be Dan. She didn't want to rescue the wrong one ! She watched as the three agents had a quick discussion at the top of the secret shaft going down to the hidden KORPS laboratory. She hid behind a tree so they wouldn't see her watching them. Finally they flung open the hatch and two climbed down, leaving Dan at the top. He pulled the hatch shut again and stood watch. "They've left Dan as lookout at the top !" hissed Keri.

"That's odd," said Aneisha. "I would have thought they wouldn't want to leave him on his own," she said, sounding puzzled.

"Oh well, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth," said Frank. "You two go and get Dan. I'm going to tackle the van. Let me know when you have him," he said.

Keri and Aneisha wandered across the school yard, converging on the hidden entrance. As they approached, Aneisha nodded towards Keri. Keri frowned and shook her head, nodding towards Aneisha. By now the agent had spotted them and was looking between the two girls. Realising that they had to act quickly, Keri put on her best flirty smile and said "Hi ! You're new aren't you ?" while getting closer. "Go on !" she hissed to Aneisha.

"No, you do it !" Aneisha hissed back. The agent was now staring at the two girls as if they were completely mad. He took a step back. "Oh, all right !" said Aneisha, pulling out her taser and shooting it at the agent, just as Keri gave up and did exactly the same. Two streaks of electricity shot out and hit the man, sending him twitching, unconscious to the ground.

At the same time, in the white van outside the school gates, Tom frowned at one of his control units. "Oh dear. We seem to have lost contact with one of the Chameleon suits," he said, grinning at Strang. The two KORPS guards sitting in the van with them sniggered and made no move to interfere.

Back in the school yard Keri and Aneisha stared in horror at the body on the ground. "Oh no ! What have we done ?" squeaked Aneisha. They knelt beside the body as the image of the young student fizzed and pixilated in front of them, before the image went off all together and they were left looking at a tall man in black clothing, wearing a black hood. Aneisha grasped the hood and pulled it off. "No way !" squealed Aneisha. She looked up at Keri aghast. "It's not Dan !"

"Oh, God ! Where is Dan ? "Did we mix him up with the others ?" whispered Keri desperately.

"No, I was tracking him as well," said Aneisha. "Wait, what if Dan didn't come ?" she asked. "What if they're all KORPS agents ?"

Keri pulled out her communicator. "Frank, it's not Dan," she told him shakily.

"What ?" hissed Frank. "Are you sure you didn't get the wrong one ?" he asked Keri.

"We're sure," said Keri, looking up to see Aneisha nodding to her. "We both tracked the only guy who didn't speak to Aneisha and we got the right guy, only it's not Dan. What shall we do ?" she asked.

"Get out of the way. I don't want you around when those agents come out," said Frank. "Oh, wait, I think there's an MI9 van coming down the road," he said. "Head for the gate," he instructed them.

Keri and Aneisha jumped to their feet and headed towards Frank near the gate. They arrived in time to see three MI9 vans blocking in the two KORPS vans. KORPS agents leapt out of both vans and were attacked by the MI9 agents. Frank, Keri and Aneisha ran to the van nearest the gate and Frank yanked the door open to reveal Tom and a man he didn't recognise in civilian clothes, each holding a control device. A single KORPS agent sat beside them, looking shocked. "MI9 !" shouted Frank. "You're under arrest," he said, leaping into the van and rapidly over-powering the guard.

"Tom, are you all right ?" asked Aneisha.

"I'm fine, but Dan isn't with us," said Tom. "They didn't bring him because they didn't think he was fit enough."

Stella appeared at the van door. "Frank ! You were told to stand down !" she complained. "Oh, never mind," she said. "Where are the KORPS agents ?" she asked.

"Two of them are still down in the old KORPS laboratory," Aneisha told her. "We tasered one of them, because we thought it was Dan," she explained.

"Couldn't you just sleep dart him ?" asked Stella, looking amused.

"Frank didn't have any," said Keri.

Stella looked at Frank and raised her eyebrows. "Just as well it wasn't him then !" she said.

"What are we going to do about Dan ?" asked Aneisha. "How's he going to escape ?"

"I left him some equipment," ventured Tom.

"What did you leave him with ?" asked Frank.

"A screwdriver," said Tom.

"A screwdriver !" said Aneisha, thinking she must have misheard him. "He's going to escape from a KORPS base, with a screwdriver ?"

"Couldn't you give him the communicator ?" asked Keri.

"Well look, you weren't there OK !" said Tom defensively. Why hadn't he thought to give Dan the communicator ? He could kick himself.

Stella sighed. "I'll get a SWAT team over there," she said. "Let's just hope Dan is good with a screwdriver !"


	18. Chapter 18

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Would the real agent Morgan please step forward ?**

"_A screwdriver !" said Aneisha, thinking she must have misheard him. "He's going to escape from a KORPS base, with a screwdriver."_

"_Couldn't you give him the communicator ?" asked Keri._

"_Well look, you weren't there OK !" said Tom defensively. Why hadn't he thought to give Dan the communicator ? He could kick himself. _

_Stella sighed. "I'll get a SWAT team over there," she said. "Let's just hope Dan is good with a screwdriver !"_

Dan had been sitting in his cell listening to the general hubbub in the KORPS base subside. The mission team must have left. His watch had been taken from him, so he didn't know what time it was, but it had to still be fairly early in the morning. If the guards stuck to their normal routine, he should be left alone for the next couple of hours. This was the best time to make a move.

Dan walked over to the cell door and looked around it carefully. There were screw heads visible on the outside of the door hinges. If he put his hands through the bars and twisted the screwdriver, he might be able to unscrew the door and lift it off its hinges. He fed the screwdriver through the gaps in the bars and spent a while trying to fit the screwdriver head into the screw head. This was difficult when he couldn't see what he was doing. The other problem was that the screwdriver seemed to be a bit too big for the screw size and kept on slipping out. Several times he bashed and scratched himself trying to get the first screw out.

There were eight screws to undo and it took him an age to get them all out. He was sweating with the effort of working in such an uncomfortable position to do the job. All the time he nervously listened out for any guard activity. Finally he managed to loosen the last screw and tucked the screwdriver into his trouser pocket. He took hold of the door and tried to lift it slowly off its hinges so as to make as little noise as possible. The cell door was super heavy and he struggled to lift it out. Slowly he managed to inch it off his hinges and push a big enough gap to squeeze through. Once outside the cell, he wondered whether he should try to push the door back into position to help hide his escape. Unfortunately there was no disguising the empty cell, so he shrugged and decided to leave it as it was.

Dan faced the empty corridor and wondered what to do next. He'd had much more experience of breaking into KORPS bases than breaking out of them and he'd always had Tom in his ear telling him what to do. Dan mentally ran through the resources he had. It didn't take long. He had a screwdriver. Did shoelaces count ? He didn't even have cutlery. Scratching his head, Dan looked back at the empty cell. He could take a blanket. He had no idea what he was going to do with a blanket, but since he didn't have anything else, he might as well take that. Carefully, Dan squeezed back into the cell and took the blanket. He lifted the thin mattress to see of there was anything useful in the bed, but there was no visible metalwork or anything else of use. Someone had obviously thought of that.

Sighing, Dan squeezed back through the door with the blanket tucked under his arm and set off as quietly as he could up the corridor. As he neared the junction at the end he heard voices. What would Aneisha do ? She would think of something. Dan quickly folded the blanket into a neat bundle and carried it on his forearm. Maybe he could look KORPS-like. Dan marched out into the corridor, staring straight ahead, and walked past two KORPS guards who were walking along the corridor talking to one another.

"You got any idea what they want from that old lab ?" asked one of the guards.

"Nah. They aren't going to tell us are they ? It's just those new guys who know what's going on. Bastards !" complained the second man. He glanced back at Dan's retreating back. "Who was that ?" he asked vaguely.

"Dunno," said the first guard. He looked back as Dan turned round a corner and disappeared from sight.

Dan breathed out a huge sigh of relief. He'd got away with it. At least so far he had. He started to recognise corridors which should lead him to the laboratory where he had worked with Tom and Strang. Perhaps if everyone was out of the building, he could hide in there for a while. Should he hide, or should he just try to make a run for it ? There was only so far he could go carrying a blanket. As he heard more voices approaching, Dan finally lost his nerve and darted through the door into the laboratory.

Dan dashed behind the door and sank to the floor, listening to the footsteps passing in the corridor outside. The danger he was in finally hit home. He was on his own in a KORPS base. His chances of getting out on his own were tiny. Hopefully, Frank and the others would soon have Tom back and then he would tell them that Dan was stuck in the KORPS base. Dan looked up at a clock on the wall. It was 8:30 am. How long would it be before Frank realised he was here ? Would Stella send a SWAT team to get him out ? How long would it take the guards to discover he was missing. Dan chewed on his knuckles, wondering what to do.

Dan decided to search the laboratory in case there was something he could use. Quickly going through the cupboards he found a box marked 'prototype'. He looked inside and found a box rather like the control console which Tom and Strang had used. It had a dial and a switch marked 'On/Off'. How hard could it be ? All he needed was a Chameleon suit and he could walk out of here. Dan hunted through boxes until he found another set of overalls with hood. With a grin, Dan glanced at the door, then walked across and locked it from the inside. It was lucky he knew someone who knew how to make one of the suits. Himself !

Dan set to work making the graphene as Strang had shown him. It was easier the second time around. Then he painstakingly printed the overalls and hood with the graphene. As he started on the last leg, he glanced nervously up at the clock. It was nearly 10 o'clock. The guards could be checking the cells any time soon. He had to get a move on. Dan was half way between the knee and hem of the second leg of the overalls when an alarm started to sound. Damn ! They must have found out he had escaped.

Dan switched off the printer and pulled the overalls out. They would have to do. Hopping across the laboratory he pulled on the overalls and grabbed the controller. He switched the controller to 'On' and walked over to look in the mirror. There was a buzzing and swirl of colours before the image changed. The body was clothed in plain clothes and Dan's head was sticking out on top. Dan grabbed the hood and pulled it on. His image changed completely now, apart from the lower part of his right leg. It stayed stubbornly MI9 uniform black. As he walked closer to the controller, the image swirled dizzily. It looked as though he couldn't take the controller with him. It seemed to affect the suit's operation. He tucked the controller under a table out of sight. Briefly he wondered how far away from the suit the controller would work. When KORPS had used the suits, they had always had Strang or Tom nearby with a controller. Dan decided that he didn't have a choice. It was now or never !

Dan unlocked the laboratory door and stepped confidently out into the corridor. "Hey you !" shouted a voice. Dan spun round in shock and found a KORPS guard waving to him from the end of the corridor. "Oi ! Don't just stand there. Get a weapon. MI9 are attacking the base and that kid's escaped !" shouted the man. Dan quickly nodded and jogged after the man down the corridor. His disguise must be working. That had to be good.

Dan followed the man into a room which had to be the armoury. He was handed a long rifle-like weapon. The man who handed him the weapon glanced down at Dan's feet, looking puzzled. "Did you get out of bed in the dark or something ?" asked the man.

Dan looked down at his feet in confusion. What was the guy asking about ?

"You've got different shoes on !" the man pointed out, before guffawing.

"What are you talking about ? They look the same to me," said another agent, peering down at Dan's feet.

"Oh, yeah," said Dan. He realised that his right leg still showed his real shoe while the other one was disguised. "I must have pulled out the wrong ones," he said, laughing nervously. He really didn't want to attract attention to himself.

"Argh. I'm going cross-eyed !" complained the second guard, rubbing his eyes. "Staring at your feet is making me dizzy !"

"Enough chit chat people !" shouted someone from the door. "I want all of the MI9 agents captured or dead ! Especially that kid ! Get on with it !" they yelled. Everyone immediately jumped to attention and ran out of the door, heading in different directions. Relieved at the distraction, Dan picked someone at random and followed them. All Dan had to do was find an exit, not let KORPS realise that he was MI9 and not get shot by MI9 thinking he was KORPS. All he needed was a really good plan. Unfortunately, he didn't have one.


	19. Chapter 19

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Now you see me, now you don't.**

_All Dan had to do was find an exit, not let KORPS realise that he was MI9 and not get shot by MI9 thinking he was KORPS. All he needed was a really good plan. Unfortunately, he didn't have one._

Stella had tried to keep Frank's team at St. Hope's, but had quickly given up on keeping them out of the action. It had taken the MI9 team about half an hour to successfully capture the two KORPS agents in the old underground KORPS laboratory. Stella asked Frank and the team to go down and try to work out what the agents had been searching for. They were refusing to talk. The agents searched the old lab thoroughly but couldn't work out what the men had been trying to find. Eventually, Tom lost patience and asked Stella to let them go and get Dan back.

"He's completely on his own ! Once they find out that this mission has failed, they'll try to punish Dan !" Tom said desperately.

"Dan is capable of looking after himself," Stella insisted.

"What if they decide to use Dan as a bargaining chip to get access to the old laboratory or just to get their agents back ?" asked Aneisha.

"KORPS don't usually worry about captured agents, at least not the ordinary ones," said Frank. "They could potentially use Dan for other purposes though," he said worriedly. "Come on Stella, stop stalling. We need to go and get him back," he pleaded.

Stella relented. In fact she had ordered the surveillance team watching the KORPS base to plan an attack as soon as she had arrived at St. Hope's. She had been waiting to hear from them. Her phone rang and she listened to the agent on the other end. Snapping her phone shut, she looked at Frank's team. "All right. We have a plan of attack. You can all help. Your job is to identify Dan and help to get him out. Come on !" she ordered. Everyone was surprised by her sudden change in attitude and glanced at one another uncertainly.

"You heard the lady," said Frank, and they all dashed out after Stella.

The team arrived outside the KORPS base dressing in their MI9 uniforms. Stella had issued Tom with a taser and Keri and Aneisha each with a sleep dart gun. "It's fast-acting but short-lived," Frank told them. Seeing their frowns he added, "It will knock them out really quickly, but they won't stay asleep for very long." He handed each of them one small silvery ball-shaped object.

"Slow Motion bombs ?" asked Aneisha.

"Exactly," said Frank.

"What do they do ?" asked Keri curiously.

Realising that Keri had never used them before Frank explained, "Throw them down hard. They explode and anyone caught in the blast moves in slow motion for about a minute. Only use it as a last resort."

Tom pulled out a spy pod. "You might not get much chance to use that," said Frank, looking curiously at Tom.

Tom clutched his spy pod tightly. The truth was that he felt more comfortable holding some tech in his hands. "I know !" he said defensively. "I can always hit someone with it if I need to," he said.

"Tom, you could always stay in the van if you want to," offered Aneisha, guessing that he wasn't looking forward to the fighting.

"No, I'm coming," said Tom in a determined voice. "I'm not leaving without Dan." Aneisha gave him a small smile and Tom felt a huge burst of pride.

Their van pulled to a halt and everyone inside went silent. There were muffled sounds from outside and a couple of loud bangs before everything went quiet again. Then there was shouting and two bangs on the side of the van. Frank flung open the doors and everyone piled out. "Go, go, go !" shouted Frank. A SWAT team had surrounded a set of doors and were making their way inside, shooting at something the rest of them couldn't yet see. "Let the SWAT team clear a route inside and then you can follow. Try to stick together !" Frank shouted to the MI High agents. They fumbled with their headsets to get them working. Aneisha had a camera on hers. Tom tuned his spy pod to pick up the image she was recording.

Finally they were waved inside. Taking a deep breath each, they all ran at full speed into the doorway and down the, now empty, corridor behind. A SWAT team member was crouched at the end of the corridor keeping a lookout over the area behind. "Still some fighting in there !" the woman shouted to them. They nodded and ran past, into the building.

"Tom, do you have any idea where we are ?" asked Keri. "Where should we go ?" she asked.

"I'm not really sure," said Tom. "That's not the entrance we were brought to. Let's just head on further inside and hopefully I'll start to recognise something," he suggested. The adrenaline was starting to flow through his veins now because he had a problem to solve. Tom thrived on solving problems.

After another few seconds they met their first resistance. A small group of KORPS agents leapt from a side corridor and attacked them. Keri knocked one back straight away. Aneisha kicked and punched at another. Tom ran in to help her and between the two of them, managed to knock the agent down. "We're getting a lot of resistance !" shouted an unknown MI9 agent in their earpieces. "We're going to need more people !"

"Additional forces are on their way !" Stella's calm voice informed them. "Continue the assault and consolidate your positions."

"What does that mean ?" asked Keri.

"It means we keep looking until we find Dan," said Tom firmly.

"Fine by me !" said Keri. "Who shall I hit next ?"

Tom pointed at a man running towards them. "Him !" he shouted. Tom dodged out of the way as the KORPS agent flew into Keri. She dodged slightly to one side and kicked out, sending the man sprawling across the floor where Aneisha stepped smartly out of the way and then karate chopped him on the back of the neck. He stopped moving.

"I like your style," said Keri.

"Thanks. It's nice to be appreciated," said Aneisha.

"Let's go," said Tom. "This way !" he said, heading further into the complex.

The three of them jogged onwards through a series of corridors, all of which looked the same. Tom was starting to despair of ever finding any sign of Dan. He could be anywhere in here, unless he was still locked in a cell. Somehow, he knew that Dan was no longer in his cell. After all, he'd had a screwdriver. Dan was not the kind of guy who would sit around with a screwdriver in his back pocket and not do something with it, even if it only meant chiselling his way through the concrete.

Finally the three of them shot out into a more open area. There were various vehicles parked in what looked like a large underground parking area. They all had to dive for cover as gunshots rang out at them. The noise echoed around the walls and roof which resulted in a deafening racket. Tom looked at Aneisha whose mouth was moving, but he couldn't hear what she was saying. She was pointing at something. He looked across and saw a group of KORPS guards firing weapons from the other side of the room. Aneisha pointed at his spy pod. Tom looked at his spy pod and saw the image from Aneisha's camera. There, briefly on the screen was the now familiar buzzing, swirling image from the chameleon suit. As quickly as he saw the image, it was gone. Aneisha had turned her head away from the group opposite. Tom was frustrated. It had to be Dan, but which of the men had it been, and where on earth had he got another chameleon suit from ?

He watched in horror as the group of KORPS agents started running towards them, firing a sweep of shots at them. Tom, Aneisha and Keri threw themselves to the floor, desperately seeking cover. Tom looked up into Aneisha's frightened eyes. "Frank ! We need help !" Tom yelled into his mic.


	20. Chapter 20

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Rescues and recoveries.**

_He watched in horror as the group of KORPS agents started running towards them, firing a sweep of shots at them. Tom, Aneisha and Keri threw themselves to the floor, desperately seeking cover. Tom looked up into Aneisha's frightened eyes. "Frank ! We need help !" Tom yelled into his mic._

Dan had been ordered to join a group of guards patrolling the vehicle store. This was basically a large underground car park. "What do we do if we see any MI9 ?" asked Dan.

"Are you kidding me ?" asked another KORPS agent. "Shoot the bastards !"

Dan gripped his weapon and hoped that no MI9 agents made it into the vehicle store. His heart sank when he spotted the group of three agents throwing themselves into cover on the far side of the room. The flash of red hair gave it away instantly. It had to be Keri, Aneisha and Tom. Trust them to be the first in ! He joined his fellows in firing shots across the room. The others were firing at Dan's team. Dan was firing into the ceiling mostly. He hated the noise of the gun and the recoil was horrendous. Each shot sent a jarring jolt through his shoulders, knocking him backwards each time he fired.

Dan's horror only increased when the leader of the group yelled for them to attack and they started running across the room towards the small group who were pinned down by the rapid fire of the guns. Dan continued to fire randomly around him, until he accidentally hit one of the KORPS agents in the leg. He screamed and fell to the floor.

The other agents stopped short of their target and spun round on Dan. "What the hell do you think you're doing ?" yelled the leader, as the fallen agent lay writhing on the floor, clutching his leg.

"Sorry," said Dan, helplessly. "I didn't mean to," he added.

The lead KORPS agent furiously hoisted his rifle and pointed it at Dan's head. "You'll be sorry you idiot !" he yelled. Then his eyes glazed over and he toppled sideways to the ground. Dan and the other two agents watched him fall in astonishment. Then another agent dropped silently to the ground.

The agent on the ground stopped groaning long enough to point at Dan. "Look ! What the hell is that ?" he moaned.

The remaining KORPS agent stared at Dan. Dan looked down at himself and saw the image being projected by the chameleon suit start to fizzle and buzz. It buzzed in and out before finally disappearing. "Oops," said Dan. He grabbed the muzzle of his gun, swung it round and whacked the last standing KORPS agent across the head with the gun butt, knocking him out cold. The man on the ground then twisted round to take a shot at Dan, but Dan managed to kick the gun from his hands. It went off, hitting a vehicle nearby. Finally that agent dropped back to the floor in silence. There was no sound in the vehicle bay. Dan pulled off his hood and looked down at the bodies surrounding him.

"What kept you ?" asked a sarcastic voice to his right. With a grin he turned round to find the smiling face of Tom peering over a car bonnet.

"I only had a screwdriver !" said Dan. "What kept you ?" he asked.

"Rather a lot of KORPS agents as it happens," said Keri, standing up beside Aneisha. They all rushed forwards and hugged one another. Then one of the KORPS agents groaned.

"Quick ! We need to get out of here !" said Aneisha urgently. "Frank said those sleep darts don't last for very long."

"What about the guns ?" asked Tom. "Should we take them ?"

"Do you know what to do with them ?" asked Keri.

"No," said Tom.

"Leave them. I don't want one," said Dan. Relieved to not take the weapons, they all ran across the vehicle compound. "There has to be a door !" shouted Dan.

Panting for breath and struggling to keep up with the others, Tom asked, "Where did you get another Chameleon suit ?"

"I made it," said Dan, also puffing to get his breath. His ribs were starting to ache again with all the physical effort. They came to anther blank wall and scrambled to a stop. Dan bent over and grimaced as he leant against the wall.

"You made a controller ?" asked Tom, sounding impressed.

"What ? No way !" laughed Dan. "I found an old prototype in a box. I just made the suit," he explained, standing back upright again. The pain in his chest was starting to ease off a bit. "The trouble was, it didn't work next to the controller so I couldn't take it with me, and I don't know how long a range it has," he added.

"I guess, round about to there," said Tom, pointing to the other side of the room, where the Chameleon suit had stopped working.

Dan nodded wearily. "It's hot wearing this thing. I'm going to take it off," he said. "It's no use now anyway."

"Wait ! Hang on to it for a bit," suggested Tom. "We might need it if we have to go back into the base. We haven't found an exit yet."

"Alright," agreed Dan, stopping with the suit folded halfway down, tying the sleeves around his waist. "That's a bit cooler."

"Are you alright ?" asked Aneisha. She'd noticed how he wasn't running as easily as usual.

"I'm OK. I've got a few bruises, that's all," said Dan waving her off. "They ache a bit when I run around."

They all froze as they heard shouting from the other side of the large underground room. "Oh no ! They've all woken up !" hissed Keri. "We've got to get out of here before they start shooting at us again !"

"Tom ! What's going on ? What was all the gunfire ?" asked Frank's voice in their ears.

"Oh, sorry Frank. We've found Dan. We're in some kind of underground car park. We can't find the way out," Tom told him. "There are a bunch of KORPS guards with guns in here. They're going to be looking for us. We have to move !" he hissed.

"Let's work our way round the walls," suggested Dan. "The door has to be in one of them."

"Good idea," agreed Tom. They looked both ways along the wall where they were standing and then looked at one another. Tom shrugged and set off to the left. The rest followed. As they ran, a gunshot rang out above their heads, hitting the wall above them. "Keep down !" said Tom. "Come one, come on. You've got to be here somewhere !" muttered Tom under his breath. Where was the way out ?

They came to another corner, hemmed in behind a row of large vehicles. "There !" said Aneisha, pointing along the next wall. About half way along the long wall was a bright patch of light. "That has to be it," she said. As they all stared a small group of KORPS guards appeared in the doorway, looking around. The MI High team immediately ducked back behind the lorries. From the shouting going on across the parking area it was obvious that a search was being planned.

"Frank, there's a way in and out of here, but it's guarded by KORPS agents !" called Tom into his headset. "They're starting a search for us. We're going to be flushed out eventually. Can you help ?" he asked desperately.

"Keep moving !" came Frank's order. "I'll see what I can organise with Stella. Can you send us some sort of signal to give us your location. If you can send it from near the entrance, we've got a better chance of receiving it. You must be underground," he explained.

"Okay, we'll try," said Tom uncertainly.

"We have to get close to the door ?" asked Dan, watching Tom's movements.

"I'm afraid so," said Tom.

"Well, we had to do it sooner or later," said Dan. "Come on !"


	21. Chapter 21

**Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Just use the door can't you ?**

"_We have to get close to the door ?" asked Dan, watching Tom's movements._

"_I'm afraid so," said Tom._

"_Well, we had to do it sooner or later," said Dan. "Come on !"_

The four MI High agents carefully made their way back up the car park, dodging behind vehicles to avoid being spotted. They had nearly reached the entrance when they heard a shout. "There they are !" yelled a KORPS agent. "Get them !"

The nearest group of KORPS agents rounded the lorry behind which the team had taken cover. Aneisha had her slow motion bomb in her hand. She hurled it towards the group of three KORPS agents who were already raising their weapons ready to fire. The bomb hit the ground and the three men instantly slowed to a crawl. Their faces registered frustration as they tried and failed to fire on the four teens. "Come on !" yelled Dan, grabbing Keri's arm. She was standing watching the effects of the bomb in fascination. "They can still shoot !" he hissed, dragging her round the corner after the others.

They hadn't got very far when another round of gunshots banged into the vehicles around them. "Ow !" screamed Aneisha, clutching her arm. "I'm OK !" she whimpered. "It's just a graze," she added. Tom's face was white as he watched the red trickle of blood from Aneisha's arm. Dan ripped a sleeve from his chameleon suit and tied it round Aneisha's arm as tightly as he dared.

"You'll be OK," Dan promised Aneisha. "Stick close to Tom, all right ?" he asked. Aneisha nodded. Tom put a protective arm around her. Dan looked to Keri. "Have you got any more of those slow motion bombs ?" he asked her.

"Just the one," she said.

"Can I have it ?" Dan asked her. Keri shrugged and handed him the bomb. "OK. Once I've thrown this, get ready to run," said Dan. Everyone nodded tensely.

Dan glanced around the side of the lorry they were hiding behind. A bullet whizzed past, just missing his head. Taking a deep breath he leapt to his feet and charged around the corner. As he turned the corner he threw himself to the ground in a forward roll. Gunshots rang out but they all flew over the top of him. In the pause of gunfire that followed he leapt to his feet and flung the bomb with all his strength at the large group of KORPS agents who were standing together firing at them. "Now !" yelled Dan, as he sprinted towards the exit. He didn't stop to see if the others had followed. He hoped that he would draw the gunfire away from them. He had to keep moving or he would be shot. A brief glance over his shoulder showed him the group of KORPS agents frozen in mid shout, slowly pulling their weapons up into firing position. He didn't have quite enough time to reach the exit and get out of sight.

Tom pulled Aneisha along with him, and Keri ran on Aneisha's other side, in an attempt to protect her injured friend. They saw Dan ahead, looking back into the car park. "Just keep going !" snapped Tom. "Whatever happens, don't stop." Keri glanced at him in surprise. She had never heard Tom sound so determined. Maybe it was because of Aneisha's injury.

"You two get out first. I need to help Dan," said Keri and she peeled away towards Dan.

Dan winced as a bullet finally flew past the back of his head. He flung himself to the left in an attempt to avoid the next bullet. This worked, but jarred his aching ribs again and made him gasp for breath. "Dan ! Head for the ramp !" yelled Keri's voice. Dan looked to his right and saw the exit was a ramp up into daylight. He twisted desperately to the right to head towards it.

A bullet ricocheted off the side of an armoured vehicle near to Dan. Nobody noticed the spark which flew to the ground. They did notice the flame which shot up in the air, racing across the car park floor towards the fuel tank of a large van. A bullet had pierced the side of the fuel tank and a trail of petrol had trickled its way along the cracks and ridges of the concrete floor.

"Oh no !" murmured Tom. "Fire ! Run !" he screamed.

"Take cover !" screamed one of the KORPS agents. Dan looked over his shoulder, still running for the exit. He looked across to the others. Keri had turned and was heading back towards Tom and Aneisha who were now at the side of the exit ramp. The KORPS agents were all running away and diving for cover. This was his best chance to get out. He was about 20 metres behind the others. Gritting his teeth, Dan raced for the exit. He had nearly made it when the shockwave and blast of sound hit him, knocking him from his feet and propelling him forwards uncontrollably. A wave of heat followed, feeling like it would burn the hair on the back of his head.

Dan felt like he was in a dream. Everything seemed to slow down. He twisted in the air, looking to his side to see Tom, Aneisha and Keri crouched over at the side of the exit ramp, arms wrapped around one another for protection. They were going to be OK weren't they ? Looking forward, Dan saw the concrete of the ramp coming up to meet him. He wrapped his arms around his head for protection and curled up ready to roll. The ground seemed to slam into his body far more quickly than he had anticipated. He felt, rather than saw, a sheet of flame roar above him. Then the world spun and twisted, as he bumped and jarred across the ground.

Tom clung to Aneisha as if his life depended on it. The sheet of flame from the explosion roared out of the building behind them, but missed their position by a few metres. He noticed Dan flying through the air, and thought for a moment that he would be able to land and roll in one of his typical parkour moves. Instead he saw Dan landing badly, arms and leg flailing around as he was thrown uncontrollably across the rising concrete of the exit ramp before coming to a halt near the opposite side. Tom's ears were ringing from the explosion. He looked to Keri, crouched wide-eyed next to him. Her mouth was moving but he couldn't hear her. It looked like she was saying, "Dan." She got up to run across, but Tom grabbed her arm and pointed up the ramp.

An MI9 SWAT team, accompanied by Frank were running down the ramp towards them, firing into the garage area behind them. Frank shouted something to Tom, but he couldn't hear. Tom shook his head and pointed to his ears. Frank nodded, then spotted Dan slumped on the other side of the ramp. Frank waved the three teens to get up and go. Keri wanted to go to Dan, but Frank wouldn't let her. Instead a couple of MI9 agents went to help him.

It was several minutes before any of them could hear anything. They were all sitting together outside the KORPS base. Frank came up to speak to them. Every so often they would hear a large explosion from the underground car park as another burst fuel tank exploded.

"Is every vehicle in there going to explode ?" asked Tom.

"Very likely," said Frank. He crouched next to Aneisha and checked her arm.

"Who tied this ?" asked Frank.

"Dan," said Aneisha.

Frank looked impressed. "Good effort," he said. "Dan ? Can you hear me yet ?" he asked.

Dan was sitting against a wall looking exhausted and sore. He had bruises and scratches on his face and was clutching one of his arms which had taken most of the impact of his fall. "Yeah, I can hear you," said Dan. "Can we go home now ?" he asked, in a rather dazed voice.

Frank patted Dan sympathetically on the shoulder. "Soon Dan," he promised soothingly. "We'll let the doctors check you all out first I think," he added gently.

Later that day, Tom was sitting with Keri in the MI9 medical unit waiting to hear the news about the others. Frank sat down beside them. "Did they get the Crime Minister ?" asked Tom.

"No, as usual, she got away," said Frank through gritted teeth. "We've got most of the KORPS agents in the base though. We had all the exits covered. I can't work out how that infernal woman always gets away !" he complained.

"I guess she leaves the instant there's any trouble," guessed Keri with a shrug. "Have you heard anything about Aneisha and Dan ?" she asked.

Frank was about to answer when a door along the corridor opened and Dan came out with his wrist strapped up in a bandage. He looked a lot more alert than he had at the KORPS base and gave them a rueful smile. "Sprained wrist," he said, throwing himself into a seat next to Tom.

Tom looked at Dan's scratched and bruised face. "You look terrible," he said. "How are you going to explain it to Mrs. King ?"

"You could say you attempted a back flip," suggested Frank helpfully.

Dan gave Frank a hard stare. "Don't even think about it !" said Dan firmly. "I'll never hear the end of it !"

"You got pushed down some stairs," suggested Keri. "Not that far away from the truth," she added.

Dan nodded. "That'll do," he agreed, giving her a quick smile.

Another door along the corridor opened and Aneisha came out, also with her arm bandaged. "All sorted," she said with a tired smile. "Just a scratch." Tom leapt up and gave her a careful hug so as not to hurt her arm.

"What happened to Strang ?" asked Tom curiously.

"Oh, he's agreed to work for MI9," said Frank, "starting with replicating his Chameleon suit. He's going to try to adapt it to take on the appearance of particular individuals, which would make it much more useful to us," he explained before standing up. "Come on, I'll take you home. I think you should take the rest of the day off and get some rest. You've earned it."

**THE END**

Thanks for all the reviews. It's not always easy to find something to say about a long story, but I do read them all and I'm grateful that you take the time.


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